Danger: Attack Cat
by Ktkat9
Summary: Yami was never really good at being around people. He was used to being alone, but when a kitten makes his way into Yami's life, will he find he has time for a new friend? Possibly more? And maybe a few secrets and villains along the way too? COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Danger: Attack Cat

Home, school, work, repeat. For the past three years, this has been my daily routine. My name is Yami Sennen; I'm a seventeen year old junior at Domino High School. Monday through Friday, after school I work as a waiter at World Cuisine, a local fancy restaurant that specializes in dishes from around the world. They also like their staff to be foreign and hired me for my looks, as well as being the only Egyptian in Japan. Despite only being able to work part time, the pay is good enough for me to live on. I live in a house on the outskirts of the city. On the other side of my backyard is a forest. My parents bought it a long time ago, but took to traveling. By the time I was eleven, I was used to getting to school on my own. By fourteen, they stopped coming back at all. They just stayed wherever they wanted and called for my birthday and some holidays. They send enough money to cover the bills. That's why I took a job. Unfortunately, it also meant that I had no free time. No time for friends. And, since I was only home on the weekends, I didn't have time for a pet either.

Well, I had a fish tank full of tropical fish, but I don't think they count. However, with summer coming up, maybe this year I'd finally make a friend. Maybe.

That's the thought I left the house with Thursday morning.

I walked to school (only about a twenty minute walk) and entered the school gates, being careful not to bump into anyone as they ran to greet friends, get to class, or whatever makes other kids hurry.

"Tristan! There you are! What took you so long?" called a girl, stepping right in my path. As I dodged around her, I caught sight of the boy she was calling. He wore the boys uniform, but with a black turtleneck under his jacket.

'Odd' I thought, 'it's the begging of summer.' But that wasn't all that caught my attention. His face was unnaturally pale, and he appeared to be sweating. Apparently, his friend noticed too.

"Oh my God! What's wrong? You look terrible" the girl said.

"I'm alright. Just coming down with something"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

I walked off to my class. No use worrying about it. It's not like I really knew the guy, and besides, if he if he decides to ignore the fact that he's sick and come to school anyway, who am I to say anything?

The bell rang and the rest of my classmates filed in. Along with them, Tristan, now looking a bit better. Tea, the girl who had called him before, and a tall blonde boy I'd seen around school before. He used to hang out with Tristan all the time, but, last anyone heard, that'd had some big falling out.

The last one to enter the classroom, (after the teacher mind you) was the tall, ice blue eyed CEO Kaiba. Even the teachers just called him by his last name. The only one allowed to call him by anything else was his kid brother, Mokuba.

He stalked to the back of the class and pulled out his book. A reading one. Not a notes one. He got the highest scores out of anyone in class, but the teachers hated him because he never paid attention to their lessons.

We began the day by passing back assignments, and my thoughts returned to this morning. Maybe I should get a pet. It would be nice to have someone waiting for me when I come home. Not to mention I'm a teenager living alone in a house on the outskirts of the city. It would make me feel safer from burglars if I had someone.

Hmm. But it wouldn't be fair to the animal. Being locked up all day just to guard the place. I'm usually never home unless I'm asleep. Maybe I should just get a roommate. But I don't think that's a good idea either. Coming home to messes made by someone else, someone else living in my house, using my power, and eating my food.

*Sigh* maybe I should just stick with my fish; If someone breaks in, they'll leave soaking wet.

The teacher and entire class stared at me like I was insane when I began snickering. Let's just say I was extremely grateful when the bell finally rang.

"Order up!" came the timid but still audible call. The head chef at World Cuisine was a small boy no older than me, but he'd been working there for years. Ever since he was old enough. He was only slightly shorter than me, albino, with long white hair. Ryou Bakura was worthy of his position as head chef and all the respect he got.

"Thanks" I said, taking the plates. One looked like it was Mexican, and the other was American, or maybe Canadian.

I delivered them to their table, and then clocked out for the day. As I stepped out the back door into the ally, I realized I wasn't alone. Two figures were standing at the end of the ally that I wasn't heading for, and apparently, arguing.

"Oh come on! I'm bored! Could we just…"

"No 'Kura" I startled as I recognized the voice of my timid co- worker take on a tone I'd never even considered it could have.

"Not even just for a…"

"For the last time! No! I have to get back to work before they notice I'm missing. Now go home 'Kura. Alright?"

*Sigh* "fine" the voice didn't sound pleased, but I was still shocked that Ryou would stand up like that. Especially to someone who sounded so …dangerous.

"Tell you what. You promise to let me get back to work, and we'll go for a ride when I'm done."

"Alright." The voice replied, sounding a lot happier. "Now get back in there. The sooner you're done the sooner you'll be home!" And with that the taller figure turned and walked out of the ally.

Ryou shook his head, looking after him for a minute before turning to go back inside, catching sight of me.

"Yami?" He called, "How long have you been there?"

"Not long. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I wasn't sure if you were in trouble or not."

Ryou smiled. "Don't worry. That was just my roommate, Bakura. Anyway, I should get back to work. See you later, Yami." He called, going back inside, all traces of malice gone from his voice.

Someone, or rather, something was following me. True, I hadn't seen or even heard them, but my sixth sense was going haywire. I knew something was there. I could feel their eyes on me.

I'd been so focused on whatever may have been behind me, however, that I was taken off guard when something small came hurtling out of an alleyway beside me. The blur came up to my ankle and looked black. Before I could step out of the way, it pounced and fought with something. I stood back until the fight was over. What I saw made me gasp. There, on the ground, was a dead cobra. It had been right behind me, close enough to strike. Standing over its opponent, though, was the last thing I expected my hero to be. It was a sleek, small, adorable kitten. He (or she) was panting and I took a good look at him. He was a black kitten, with a few gold patches on his forehead between his eyes. His ears were faintly outlined in red while his eyes left me stunned. I'd never seen such big, soulful, amethyst eyes on any creature, much less a cat.

"Mew" I blinked as he made a faint sound, then slowly got down on one knee and extended my hand. I made small coaxing noises with my tongue, trying to get him closer.

"Come here. I won't hurt you, that's it. Good boy. Easy." I held my breath as the tiny creature took slow, small steps closer and closer, looking very nervous. When he got close enough, he sniffed my hand and then closed his eyes. It looked like he was bracing himself for something, but before I could figure out what; he quickly leaned forward and touched his head against my hand. We both froze, unsure what to do. I took a deep breath and eased my hand up his head and down his back. When he didn't run away, I felt encouraged and petted him again. Presently, he opened one eye, then the other. He blinked, then walked closer and put his paws up on my knee.

"Heh. I take it you're a stray? I can't see any house cat doing that." I said, glancing at the snake.

I swear he looked right at me, smiled, and said, "Meow."

I slipped one hand under his stomach, or rather his ribs, he was way too skinny, and picked him up. "I guess I can't just leave you here. And after you did just save my life, this is the least I can do." I held the tiny body close against my chest as I unknowingly turned the page in my life to a whole new chapter.

Thank you for reading! Please review! I actually made a bet that if I can get twenty reviews for this story then a certain someone will be forced to read it. Plus as I am a new author I would love the feedback!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING! I was shocked to get so many on my first chapter and will try to update sooner.

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I turned the key in the lock and opened the door to my dark house.

"Well, I know it's not much, but . . . here it is." I waved my hand around the room after I flicked the light switch. I glanced down and saw the kitten looking around curiously. "Here. Don't cause trouble and I'll be back down in a second. I need to take a shower, and then I'll start dinner.

"Meow"

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I stared at myself in the mirror. The fact that I could have died tonight was finally sinking in. I wasn't that surprised to see a wild animal in the city. The woods were close and human garbage was a good source of food. What surprised me most was why that tiny cat had risked his life to save me. I assumed he was a stray because he didn't look like any house cat I'd seen. He was skinny, covered in dirt (as I found out when I looked at my shirt), he could fight, and he was scared of me at first.

I grabbed a towel and dried my hair as best as I could then opened the bathroom door and proceeded back downstairs. I wasn't prepared for the sight that met my eyes.

I had dropped my backpack on the floor before heading upstairs and somehow the kitten had pulled out my street clothes and was curled up on them. That was not what shocked me though. My once white T- shirt was now red where the little kitten lay. I suddenly remembered that he'd fought off a cobra and I'd never checked to make sure he was alright.

I kneeled down and placed my hand gently on his back, growing worried when I got no response other than a slight ear twitch. "Hey, little guy. Are you alright?" I wasn't sure what to do, so I just kept talking, wanting us both to be calm when I moved him. "Listen, I decided to keep you, so you're going to need a name. Let's see. I work with a lot of foreigners, so maybe something foreign?" I realized I was rambling, but I felt the kitten breathing alright and, to tell the truth, I was terrified. I could never handle blood well, and taking care of others was something I had no experience doing. "How about . . . um . . . well kittens love, um playing, so 'Heba'? No, that doesn't sound right. Maybe, uh, 'Yugi'?"

Ear twitch.

I tried again. "Yugi? Can you hear me? I'm going to move you now, alright? I need to see how bad youre bleeding."I slowly slipped my hand under him and lifted him up. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he stared at me in confusion. "Easy." I said, but he jumped down, landing on three paws, his right paw held in the air. Before he could run off, I grabbed him and held him close. "Easy, Yugi. Just let me see your paw. I wont hurt you." As if by magic, he stopped struggling and even held out his injured paw.

Examining it, I saw a neat slice directly through the paw pad and extending up one of the toes. It was just beginning to scab.

" How did this happen? I know that wasn't there earlier."I murmered.

Yugi managed to get out of my grip this time and walked over to the kitchen where a glass lay broken on the ground. He stopped by it, turnrd to look at me, then cringed and looked down, as if expecting to be nothing came, and I remained at my spot on the floor, he cracked one eye, then the other and stared at me.

Slowly, so as not to startle the obviously nervous kitten, I got up and walked towards him. When I was close enough, I knelt down, wary of any broken glass, and picked Yugi up.

"Sorry. I know I should have done the dishes, but I haven't really had the time lately. I don't want you getting hurt again, so I'm gonna, well, see what I can do for your paw, then put you in my room." He blinked up at me with an almost human intelligence and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he understood every word I said.

I took Yugi up to my room and put him on the bed. "stay here. I'll be right back."

"Mew."

I chuckled at the responseand headed for the bathroom. I always kept a fully stocked first aid kit under the sink. I had to search around for it before I found it at the way back.

'It has been a while since I've had to use this . . .'

*Thump*

My thiughts were interrupted by a sound from my bedroom whatever it was sounded way too big to be my cat. I opened my door just in time to see Yugi scrambling to get back to the place I'd left him.

"Easy, easy." I tried to calm him downbefore he injured himself further. Not seeing anything knocked over in the room, I sat down next to Yugi, picked him up, and set about cleaning his paw. The cut wasn't bad enough for him to have to go to a vet, so I just wrapped it with a little strip of gause.

"There." I held him eye level to me, letting myself be once again hypnotized by his amythiest eyes. "All better. Now 'm going to go clean up that mess and start on din . . ." I broke off as my blood ran cold, and I felt raw fear.

In the middle of my room, standing out like a beacon against the cream- colored carpeting, was a bloody human handprint.

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Review to claim your free air guitar! And speaking of claiming, I own everything, except for what other people own!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I would like to give a big Thank- You to Stephiel9816, and Ladyraider92 for reviewing my last chapter. As a present, I am glad to say that this will be my last short chapter. I have this story mostly all written out, and this is where the shortness ends.

I also do not own Yugioh.

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I scowled at dinner, lost in thought. I'd searched my entire house, but the only signs that there had been someone inside were the handprint, and my open bedroom window. I'd measured my hand against the one on my floor, just to make sure it wasn't mine, and found the hand to be much smaller than my own.

I'd gone into full lockdown mode, locking anything I could, closing every curtain, before I'd calmed down enough to remember that I had another big day ahead of me, and needed to eat dinner.

I turned off the stove and removed the frying pan from the heat. Walking over to the table, I slid my tuna melt onto my plate, and then placed my cooking dishes in the now empty sink. When I turned back around to eat, I found that I hadn't been fast enough. Yugi was seated beside my plate, mouth full of my dinner, oblivious to all else.

"Yugi! I just made that!" I hadn't meant to yell, but I still ended up scaring my poor kitten. He was under the living room couch before I had time to blink. Sighing, I opened my fridge and grabbed another can of tuna, which I spread over a plate.

"Yugi?" I knelt down slowly and talked softly, remembering only now how scared he'd been. I wanted to show him that whatever had happened to him before would never happen again. Not as long as I was here.

"Mew" He peeped his head out from under the couch timidly.

"I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to yell. I have your dinner right here. C'mon, there's a good kitty." His eyes widened and he stared at the plate of tuna between the two of us. He licked his lips and I realized he was practically drooling. Unable to resist any longer, he made an adorable pounce from his hiding spot to the plate and began tearing into it, acting like a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

"Heh, heh. I guess it's okay that I don't have any cat food yet. Here, I have an idea." I picked him up, along with his dinner and returned to the table. 'Now I'm glad I live alone' I thought. 'Any mother would throw a fit at what I'm about to do.' I eased the plate down across from my seat and set my new companion directly on the table. He looked around, confused at his new surroundings, then tilted his head and looked at me.

"I've lived alone for years. Now that you live here, you can eat here. I always thought it was insulting that people made their pets eat off the floor. I realize I don't know much . . . okay, anything about raising a cat, but if I'm right, and I usually am, you don't have much experience with nice humans. So how about we just help each other out. You and me." I suddenly froze. ' Why am I expecting a response?'

Partly to hide my blush, I turned back to my cabinet and grabbed a bowl, which I filled with water and placed beside Yugi, who had continued eating at a much more subdued pace.

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Dinner had ended, and I was back in my room. The lights were off, I was in bed, and Yugi was asleep right next to me. But I couldn't fall asleep. Rolling onto my side carefully, so as to not wake my cat, I looked at where the hand print had been. I had since cleaned it up, not wanting it to stain my floor.

I was still uncomfortable. That sound I'd heard, was that a person in my house? Had Yugi been alone with a burglar? How long had they been inside? The hand print had been bloody, but I hadn't managed to find even a single drop of blood on anything other than the window. That must have been how they'd gotten in, and then back out. I'd taken to sleeping with the window open, feeling safe on the second floor, and I must have left it open before school.

Yeah. That had to be it. And with that, I closed my eyes and drifted off to the nether realm where everyone knows anything is possible. Oh, if only I'd known how close that realm was, maybe I'd have been prepared for the day it brought.

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Please review! And while I will be doing longer chapters, that also means that updates will be slower. Im sorry. Also, please tell me who else you think will be making an appearance!


	4. Chapter 4

OMG! Eleven reviews for three chapters! Thank you all so much. They really make my day. I'm sorry this took so long to upload, but here we are! Please enjoy!

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"Mew." I rolled over and shoved my pillow on my head. "Mew." I pushed the annoying noise off my back. " _Mew._ " The pillow got yanked off my head. I blinked, and stared. And finally registered the fact that something was in my bed.

"AHHH!"

*Thud* Now that I was fully awake, I remembered the events of the day before and looked up at my bed, where my new kitten, Yugi, stared right back, almost laughing at me.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want. Meanwhile, I'm going to be late!" I ran from the room, took a quick shower, and got ready for school. I was in the middle of making scrambled eggs when Yugi joined me downstairs.

"Mew" I turned and saw him seated at his spot on the table.

"Sorry, no tuna for breakfast. You'll have to make do with this." I handed him a saucer of eggs I'd taken from the pan, then sat down with my own plate. "Listen, Yugi." He looked up and licked his lips. 'Are all cats this attentive?' I wondered. "I need to go to school, then work, alright? I'm going to be gone until dark today, so I don't want you making any messes."

"Mew."

"Good boy." I chuckled. " In that case, in need to go. Have fun while I'm gone, but please, don't break anything." I slung my backpack over my shoulder and got out two bowls. One I filled with water, the other I took over to the pantry and began searching through the cans for something that I could feed him that wouldn't go bad if left out for the day.

Finally I decided on a can of spam. Defiantly not something I would want for lunch, but better than nothing. "Here you go. Lunch, since I won't be here to feed you. Tomorrow we'll go to the pet store and get you real food. Until then, you'll have to make do." I walked to the door and Yugi followed me. "Sorry, Yugi. You're staying here. If you get bored, you can find something to play with . . .anywhere, really. Maybe you could clean up a bit for me, huh?"

I glanced at my watch and gasped. I was running late." See you later, Yugi. I gotta go." I shouted, slamming the door and taking off down the street. By the time I reached the school, I'd slowed my pace, managing to make it in time for first bell.

Glancing around at my fellow students, I noticed Tristan looked back to normal, except for the scarf around his neck. 'Maybe he gets cold easy. But if I remember middle school, he was always in tank tops and shorts this time of year. 'Tea and Joey were in their seats while, by some miracle (probably named Mokuba) Seto was in his, reading.

"Alright, class. Today we will begin working on. . ." And so began the most exciting day of my life, so far. I just didn't know it yet.

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"No kidding? You really got a cat?" Ryou and I were on break, and I had decided to ask him for help. I knew he was good with animals, and also the closest thing I had to a friend, so he was my obvious choice.

"Yeah. He saved my life last night. Killed a snake on my way home. The only problem is, well . . ."

"You have no idea what to do with a cat and would like my help?" he smiled knowingly.

"Yes. I have no idea how to take care of anything other than myself and my fish. And I need to know what to do in advance. I mean last night, for example, I left Yugi downstairs for fifteen minutes while I took a shower, and when I came back down, I found that he'd cut his paw on a broken piece of glass. Apparently one of my dishes fell off the counter. I mean, he's okay now, but you know how I get around blood. And even simple things. I don't have any idea what a cat needs. So far, I've fed him tuna, eggs and spam." I stopped, realizing not only that I was rambling, but also how Ryou was staring at me. "Why are you smiling?"

"Do you see yourself as a good cat owner?" he asked, still smiling like he knew something I didn't. "Just tell me what you think."

"Do I sound like a good cat owner? He saves my life and I take him home where he instantly gets hurt, I can clearly see that he's terrified of people, I get him to warm up to me only to yell at him for stealing my dinner. And that's another thing! Did you not hear what I've fed him so far? Tuna for dinner. Yes, cats love fish, but even I know they need cat food. Eggs for breakfast and I left spam out for lunch today. Do I sound like a good cat owner to you?" I stopped yelling and took a deep breath to calm myself down.

Ryou hadn't flinched once during the entire rant. In fact, he even still had that same smile on his face. He waited for me to catch my breath, then calmly answered my question with a soft "Yes." He held up his hand to stop me from saying anything. "Everybody makes mistakes with animals that make them feel stupid. Most hope nobody ever finds out, you asked for help, thinking of, Yugi, you said his name was? "I nodded and he continued. "Yugi, before your own pride. And while you can't stand blood, you helped him. And, knowing you, I'm assuming you immediately did all the dishes." Another nod. " and you not only fed him the most suitable thing on hand, but also left something out for him to eat while you're gone. Not to mention you're using your break to ask for help. Most would just turn him over to a shelter, or put him back on the streets. And, in answer to your question, how about the two of us take Yugi to the pet store tomorrow and get him everything he needs. If I let you ask on of the employees for help, they'll just fast talk you into buying a lot of useless, expensive junk. Plus, I think Yugi should have a say in what he gets. Now lets get back to work. Break ended six minutes ago."

"Okay. Thanks, Ryou." We smiled and went back inside.

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I walked home after work, paying more attention to my surroundings this time. Nothing happened until I found myself in a familiar area. 'This is where I found Yugi.' I thought, looking around. I noticed the snake had been cleared away, probably by either teenagers, or wild animals. Just the thought of that thing made me shudder. I had nearly died on this spot last night. Yugi had too. He'd risked his life to save me, even though he was terrified.

'I promise Yugi, I won't ever let anything happen to you. Not anymore.' Turning, I continued on my way home, suddenly wanting to be near my little companion.

Reaching my front door, I pulled out my keys and put them in the lock. Opening the door, I called out the words I'd wanted to say my whole life. "I'm home!" only nobody came to greet me. 'Odd, he was practically trying to come with me earlier. He couldn't have . . .' Suddenly panic seized me. Had Yugi run away? Was he-

My train of thought was derailed as soon as I turned on the lights. Someone had cleaned. I don't mean someone picked my socks off the couch. I mean my floor was vacuumed, my windows were scrubbed, my . . . oh my God, my kitchen floor swept, sink polished. I stumbled around, absently dropping my bag and jacket on the now pristine couch. I did a double take. I'd had that couch since I was six. There had been a large stain on the arm where I'd spilled a bowl of melted chocolate ice cream. That stain was now gone. Sa if it had never existed. And was my floor always off- white? I thought it was dark gray. I shook my head and went upstairs. The bathroom sparkled. I'd never gotten it that clean before.

Still out of it, I turned and entered my bedroom. And froze. Have you ever had something happen, and the first thoughts to enter your mind are the complete wrong response? Well that had never happened to me until right then.

My first thought was, ' Those pajamas haven't fit me for years.'

Then, "Hey, he looks like me.'

And finally, 'OH MY GOD! Someone's in my house!'

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Thank you all so much for reading! Please review! We're almost at twenty! XD


	5. Chapter 5

Almost at twenty reviews! Only four more to go before I win the bet! ( BTW my brother said that if I ever got twenty reviews, he'd read my story. He never thought it would happen) thank you all so much for helping make this happen. Also, this chapter introduces, or shows a lot more than just Yugi and Yami, so enjoy. ;)

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In a privately owned, supposedly empty warehouse, a meeting was taking place. As it sat right on the ocean, the only interruptions were the gentle lapping of waves against the dock outside.

" I'm completely certain, sir." Said a man in a black suit and tie. He wore a black hat pulled low over his eyes, even though there was no reason to hide his identity, it was more like a security blanket at this point. His boss knew who he was. That fact scared him enough.

"Really, now." Came a dark, but also laughing tone. " And what makes you so sure, hmm?" the man stepped into the light. "Keep in mind that it was my prized specimen. Getting my hopes up for no reason could become . . .hazardous . . .to your health." The laughter was gone from his voice. " Now, tell me. What makes you so sure you've found it?"

"W-well, Sir," The poor man stuttered, " I-I found this, and it's covered in his, _it's,_ scent. Guaranteed." Reaching into a bag, he withdrew a large, dead cobra.

" So. It thinks it can just get a new master, does it? We'll have to see about that." He laughed.

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" What do you want?" Tristan didn't even look up, knowing who was right behind him. Joey. His once best friend. The one he thought he could trust. Who was supposed to have believed in him.

" I," Pause, then, " I was wondering if we could hang out." Joey blurted. Tristan stopped in his tracks. Did Joey just say . . .? Could he really? No. Impossible. This was Joey. Joey doesn't apologize. Ever.

" I hate arguing with ya pal. We're practically brothers. You're my best friend, and I don't want that all to end just because I said something stupid and was too proud to take it back. I'm sorry, man. If you want to get a roommate, I have confidence in who you choose."

Tristan didn't know how to react. Joey had told him just three weeks ago that he was stupid for taking a roommate into his small apartment. Granted, Joey thought the guy was a stranger, but he should have known better then to think Tristan would do something _that_ crazy.

But he did know better. He just said so. He just apologized. "How about we try out the new video game I just got?" Tristan asked hesitantly. His roommate was out again tonight, and, knowing him would stay out until sunrise.

Joey broke into his usual grin. " Sounds great." The two continued along the familiar route they'd both taken several times to Tristan's place, both silently thankful to have their best friend back.

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Tristan's apartment had a strange layout. It had only five rooms, if you count the closet. Opening the front door, Joey saw the large living room with a stack of mattresses in one corner by the window, across form a TV. There were a few scattered posters for bands and games, but it was otherwise empty. Down the hall, there were four doors. On the right was a long, narrow bedroom, while across the hall was the kitchen. The two remaining doors led to the closet and the bathroom.

"Ready for me to kick your rear?" Joey challenged.

"You're on!"

An hour after the boys had come in, they were still playing. Tristan was currently in the lead, but Joey was determined to catch up. It was just starting to feel like old times again when the front door opened, slammed shut, and someone sprinted into the bedroom fast enough that Joey didn't even notice someone had come in until the second slam.

 _"Tristan!_ Why didn't you tell me you had someone over?" The mystery person yelled.

Tristan, Joey noticed, hadn't acknowledged their presence in the slightest. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry." He called through the wall, never taking his eyes off the game.

"Was that . . ."

"My roommate? Yeah, that's Duke." Joey shook his head at how his once again best friend could be so nonchalant.

"I win."

"Dammit Tristan!"

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"Roommate? That's what you told that guy I was? Really Ryou?"

"Okay. Next time I'll tell him the truth, but I'm not so sure how much he'll believe. 'Hello, Yami . . .Roommate? Bakura? Actually, he lives with me, yes, but we're not roommates, exactly. More like teammates since he's not even human. He's a . . ."

"Okay! Okay! Fine. We're roommates. Can we go now? I'm bored." Ryou chuckled at Bakura's not so subtle change in subjects.

" Alright. Lets go." And they headed out into the night.

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While the world was still moving around us, we were both oblivious to it. The boy was still asleep on my bed, where I'd found him, while I was trying to decide if this would be an appropriate time to call the police.

The obvious answer was yes, but another look at the kid lying in bed had me rethinking it. Finally deciding against my better judgement, I put the phone down and went back to my room to confront the boy. The boy that looked like me. Granted smaller, and more innocent looking, but still unwelcome in my house.

I swallowed to steel my nerves, pushed aside my fear, and entered the room. Walking up to the boy I reached out a hand to shake him awake, but froze. The boy had cat ears. Right on top of his head.

" What the heck?" I muttered, "Who wears cat ears to commit a felony?" Suddenly, one ear twitched slightly. 'Its not real, is it?' That's when I noticed. The ears were pitch black, outlined slightly in red. Just like Yugi's. _Yugi!_ I'dforgottenhim _!_ Where was he? Had this boy done something to him?

I reached out my hand, shoved the boy roughly onto his back, and held him down by both shoulders. Trying to be as intimidating as possible, I glared and snapped, "Who are you and what are you doing in my house!"

The boy looked up with pure terror written all over his face. "I- I"

"Speak up! Do you want me to call the police? Now answer me!"

He was shaking and crying now. " I . . .Yami, I'm sorry! I should have told you, but I was so scared that you'd turn out like my other masters! Please forgive me! I was just waiting for a good tome . . ."

"Whoa, Whoa! Hold up. How do you know my name?"

" I . . .You " he spoke quietly and I released him from my hold. "You told me."

I blinked at him, then leaned forward and spoke clearly and slowly. " I have never met you before in my life. Who are you and why are you in my house?"

He sighed, sat up, and bowed his head. His tone was resigned, almost defeated. "Actually, Yami, you have met me. I saved your life last night, and you took me home. My name is Yugi."

I stared at him. His ears began to twitch nervously, and . . . a tail . . . a pitch black tail . . . was dangling down by his legs, the tip wrapped around his ankle. "Are you trying to tell me that you're my cat? You know what? Forget the police. I'm calling the mental institute." I glared at him as he bowed his head. "Speaking of Yugi, where is he? What have you done with my cat?"

"I haven't done anything with him. He's me. Have you not noticed my ears-"

"Is that really the best you can do? Dude, everyone these days knows you can buy costume animal parts at almost every store in town. Now, for the last time, who are you and where's my cat?"He didn't say anything. He didn't even move. He just stared, wide-eyed at some spot near my feet. "Hey, kid. You okay?" No response. I was getting worried. What if he really _was_ a mental patient who'd found his way into my house. Maybe I should have called the cops before waking him.

Suddenly, his eyes glowed faintly. _His eyes!_ How had I not noticed? They were the exact same shade of amethyst as Yugi!

Before I could work on that thought any longer, the boy sprouted whiskers. Not beared and mustache ones, but long, thick strands of cat whiskers, out of his cheekbones. Then his hair flattened and grew down his back, and his body shrank until all I could see was a small lump in my old pajamas. The whole transformation took about ten seconds.

I gulped and edged forward, easing my hand out to grasp the hem of the shirt. I slowly lifted it up.

"Mew."

"Yu-Yugi?" I breathed. My mind was unable to process what I was seeing. I felt my knees give way, and suddenly I was eye level with amethyst. He cowered back into the shirt as far as he could go, eyes on his paws.

"I told you I was Yugi." He whispered.

"How is this even possible?" No answer. I sighed. "Yugi, I promised you that I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and I don't break promises. I just never expected my cat to be human. Or, well, whatever you are."

He looked up, still shaking, but his eyes were full of hope. "You promise?"

"Absolutely." I sat on the bed and pulled him onto my lap.

" I'm a neko." He began. That sounded familiar.

"You mean like those mystical creatures? Those half- human, half- cat people?"

"Yes. Exactly like them. I am one." He got comfortable, curling up on my lap.

"So, you know I have absolutely zero experience with cats . . ."

"You told me we'd figure it out together. Besides, you're my Master." That got me.

"Master? What do you mean?"

" I mean that every time a neko is born, they have a very strong pull telling them who they serve. We can't survive on our own. We must stay with whoever we are bound to. Otherwise, if we're separated for too long, my life force will be used up trying to keep me alive. In short, I'll die. It's a way to keep domesticated nekos near who they serve."

We were both silent for a while afterwards. I was trying to absorb what Yugi had just told me. He could die? If I wasn't there? Why me? I didn't even believe in mystical creatures until my cat cleaned my house and started talking to me.

Suddenly, another thought occurred to me. "Hey, Yugi?"

"Yeah?"

"Do, uh . . ." I had no idea how to ask this. "Do cats really have nine lives?"

He stiffened. " Yeah." He said after a moment. "Yeah, we do. But not in the way you think."

"What do you mean?"

"We have three lives, and three chances at each one." That made even less sense. "What I mean, Yami, is that we nekos have nine lives. Normal cats have only one life. Nekos have three lives, and three chances at each one, as I said. Each life, we have a different Master, and we are supposed to serve that Master and do whatever they wish of us. We are also to protect that Master with our lives if need be. We can die and be reborn three times per Master, but the third time we die we go to a different Master. After we die the third time with our third and final Master, we are in eternal rest. That is the final death of a neko."

"You're forced to serve? You mean like, forever?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said." I replied firmly. "No. while you are here, we work together, like we promised." Yugi stared at me in shock, then smiled. I smiled back. Then I remembered something. "Yugi?" He looked up.

"Hmm?"

"Earlier, you said you were afraid I'd turn out like you're 'other Masters'." I paused, making sure I had his attention. "You said 'Masters'. Plural. Yugi, am I . . ." I couldn't finish the thought.

"Yes, Yami. You are my third and final Master."

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Review and kitten Yugi will appear on your doorstep! Don't and creepy villan will send you a dead cobra. Thank you for reading and reviewing!XD


	6. Chapter 6

AND WE HAVE REACHED TWENTY REVIEWS! Thank you all and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. I also wanted to ask, should I give a little preview of the next chapter at the end? I don't know if I should start doing that or not, so please let me know what you think. Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, but I do own . . . _your soul_. (Cue creepy laughter). PS I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but it is my least favorite and there is no way to edit it. On with the story!

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I lay awake that night. Tomorrow was Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about waking up early. my mind was on the events of earlier. Yugi had admitted that the handprint on my floor had come from him tripping, and he'd opened the window so I'd think that whoever had been in the house had left. Before bed, I'd changed his bandage, glad to see it was healing well.

But it was what he had told me before all that that had me worried. I was Yugi's third Master. His other two had obviously mistreated him, but he still, albeit hesitantly, trusted me. I rolled over, absently stroking the small, sleeping kitten. We'd promised to talk more in the morning, and Yugi had fallen back to sleep almost instantly, curled right into my side. I smiled. Maybe I wasn't ready for a pet. But a friend? I could always find time for a friend. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

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I opened the door at eleven- thirty the next morning to find Ryou on my porch.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, just let me grab my wallet." I ushered him in and closed the door behind him. I grabbed my jacket and slipped the old wallet into my back pocket.

" Say, Yami?"

" Yeah? What's up, Ryou?"

" I was thinking, it may not be the best idea to bring Yugi along. He used to be a stray, and he may run off, or get into a fight with another animal while we're out."

"I see your point." I said. " Its just as well, I guess. I was a little worried about taking him out with his paw still healing. "

"Well, we'll have to see about getting some supplies while we're out. Lets go."

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So sue me. I've never been in a pet store in my life. The only reason I was even in one now was because I'd already told Ryou I needed his help, and I couldn't exactly tell him that my cat was human. Not to mention, Yugi _was_ half cat. I had things at home to take care of another human, but he also had needs as a cat.

Anyway, just walking through the frond door sent every sense into overdrive. I could hear meowing, yipping, chirping. A pair of hamsters ran on a wheel, a macaw flew from a perch to a food bowl, a Great Dane on a customer's leash was trying on different vests, I could see animals and equipment of all sizes, shapes and colors.

"How about we start with food. Or do you want to find toys first?" Ryou walked up with a shopping cart.

"Um, yeah. Food would probably be smart."

"Alright then, its this way." He led me to an isle and I began looking through the bags for the cat food. I stepped back and looked up and down the isle. It was _all_ cat food. " About how old do you think Yugi is?" Ryou asked.

"Well, he's about this tall, so I'd say, kitten?" I held my hands about six inches apart for him to see.

"Okay, so kitten food for now. That would be over here. Now this is a good brand, and not too expensive…"

I looked up from the bag when Ryou trailed off.

"Yami," Ryou closed his eyes. "Did you get your life saved by a _kitten_?"

"Yeah. I couldn't believe it either, but he killed a cobra that was right behind me."

"Just making sure I heard you right." We loaded the small bag into the cart and headed off to the grooming section.

"Now, remember, you don't need to bathe a cat. They do that on their own. You do, however, need to keep up on brushing their fur. If they swallow too much fur they could end up getting sick and I don't think you want to pay those vet bills. Though the chances of that actually happening are low, it would be better to keep on top of it as much as possible." As he spoke, Ryou placed a strange- looking brush on the food bag, along with a small kit containing tiny bandages and a few other kitty medical supplies.

"Next up is toys." He continued, drawing me out of my examination of the cart. " Contrary to popular belief, cats do not spend the whole day sleeping. They will get bored if left with nothing to do, and when that happens, they find ways to entertain themselves. Like clawing your furniture." He showed me the types of toys that a kitten would enjoy, and even a small, cheap scratching post. We were about to leave the isle when something caught me eye.

"Hey, Ryou? What's this?"

"Hmm? Oh, kitty treats! Yugi'll love'em."I grabbed chicken and mackerel flavored and placed them among the toys. "Now there's only one thing left." Ryou said, mysteriously.

"And that would be . . .?" I questioned.

"Yugi was a stray before you found him. He needs a collar." We walked over to the last isle. There were shirts, collars, leashes, and harnesses for everything from mastiffs and st. bernards, to kittens Yugi's size. "We'll get tags up at the counter, but you pick out the one you want here."

He stood back to let me choose. I figured I'd just find a cheap one and if Yugi wanted, he could wear it. I picked up a dark blue, studded collar, then a red one, then orange, defiantly not. I was just about to grab the blue one when I saw something at the back of the bin, almost completely buried. Reaching out, I grabbed a pitch black collar, as dark as Yugi's fur. At the front, where the loop is for the tags, hung a tiny, golden pyramid charm. It was perfect.

"Good choice." Ryou commented. He leaned in to get a better look, then straightened back up. "Oh! I can't believe I forgot! Food and water bowls!" I laughed and followed, wondering briefly what Yugi was doing at the moment.

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Ryou helped me carry everything home. Setting all the bags on the living room floor, I began to worry about how to keep him from finding out. Admittedly, the fact that he was in my house was my fault, as I'd forgotten about my cat being a neko. Thankfully, before I could think of anything, a random rock song began blaring.

" What the heck?" I looked around, trying to find where it was coming from.

" Sorry. That's me." Ryou blushed as he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. " My roommate set it. I'd change it, but I haven't exactly had the heart to." He stepped into the kitchen to answer it.

With nothing else to do, I began setting Yugi's new things up around the room. A toy mouse on the couch, the scratching post in the corner, the cat food I quietly placed in the pantry. While in the kitchen, I tried to pay as little attention to the one- sided conversation as possible, but I couldn't exactly tune out the shout of, " We need to move them to the safe house then. . . Yes I'm sure . . . well, do you have a better idea?" he fell silent for a moment, and I slipped back into the living room. I had heard nothing. That was none of my business.

Ryou walked back out a few minutes later. "I'm sorry, but somethings come up. I've got to get going. Good luck with your new cat."

"Thank you. And thanks for all your help today." I replied, holding the door open for him.

After he was gone, I went looking for Yugi. I found him upstairs where I got a lesson in why first time cat owners should never look at a sleeping cat. Who knew that they could go boneless in their sleep? Yugi lay on his back, neck twisted at what looked like a painful angle, but showing no signs of discomfort. He was in neko from, which, as he'd explained to me, was when he had only his ears and tail out.

I heaved a sigh of relief after making sure that he really was breathing, then strode over to the bed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Yugi." He rolled over, still asleep. "Yugi" I tried again.

"Meow." He replied sleepily. That got me laughing, which is what finally woke him up. "Yami? Back already?"

"Yeah. Do you want to see what you got?" Instantly, all traces off sleep were gone from his eyes as he grabbed my hand and leapt off the bed. Dragging me behind, he raced out of my room, down the stairs and into the living room. When we got there, however, he stopped suddenly. So suddenly that I crashed right into him and we both went down in a heap. "Ouch. Are you okay?" I asked. Yugi barely noticed me. He was too busy looking around the room.

"Wow."

"So, you like it?" I was still a bit nervous. I mean he was half cat, but he was half human, too.

"Yami. Thank you. My other Masters, they never did anything like this for me. I'm actually able to be a neko? Like, for real? This isn't a dream?"

"No, this is real. To tell the truth, I don't really know what nekos need, so I just had Ryou help me find things for cats, and I know how to get things for humans, so . . .We'll learn together how to do this, alright? You just make sure to tell me if I do something wrong, okay?"

"Yes. Yes, and thank you again." He was almost crying, and I found myself wondering just who his previous Masters were and how he was treated. Had they been just as confused as me? Had the title of 'Master' gone to their heads? What- "Hey, Yami? What's this?" I looked up. He was sitting by the scratching post, examining it.

"That's a scratching post. Ryou said that when cats get bored, they tend to claw things, and this is so they don't turn on the furniture."

"Oh, I would never claw your furniture!" Yugi looked absolutely horrified.

"I'm not saying that you will. That's just what Ryou told me. Remember, he thinks that you're a normal cat. Do you want to give it a try?"

He turned his head to the side, and then slowly extended one hand, morphing it into a paw mid-air. *Scratch* He blinked. *Scratch* "That feels good" he laughed. He shifted to all cat and began s to attack the post. By the time he'd worn himself out, he was purring.

"Have fun?" I asked, smiling. He nodded and I picked him up, walking over to the kitchen table. "Yugi, Ryou had me get something else. I figured that you can wear it if you want, maybe as like a bracelet or something, but I'm not forcing you." I reached into my pocket and drew out the collar. Ryou had helped me make tags before we left, and they now held all of Yugi's attention.

"'Yugi Sennen'? I have your name. Yami . . .?"

"I, ah, thought you would like it. I wasn't sure though." I trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Before I could think about it anymore, Yugi leaped at my chest, laughing.

"You really have accepted me. Thank you so much."

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" _Where is it?_ " the werewolf yelled, slamming his captive back against the wall again.

"Like I'd ever tell you, even _if_ I knew!" he yelled back.

The werewolf snarled. "Then you're of no use to me." He replied darkly, raising his paw to deliver the final blow. But before it could come down, the shadows rippled behind the boy. The werewolf blinked, wondering if this was a trick of his eyes, but when he looked again, the boy was gone. Swallowed up by the darkness.

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Again, I am so sorry that it took this long for me to update, but as I said, there was just no way to edit this chapter. Please leave a review and tell me if I should start giving little previews of the next chapter. As an example, I'll do one here.

NEXT CHAPTER: Joey meets Yugi and Yami ( honestly, Yugi, _why_?),and Yami goes back to work, but somethings off.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you all for reading and reviewing! They make me feel so touched reading them! This chapter will answer a few questions, but the real action begins in the next one. Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, and neither do you, (But if you do, what the heck are you doing on fanfiction?)

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"Do you have to go to work today?"

"No, it's Sunday. What do you want for breakfast?" I asked. Yugi sat in a chair at his spot. Absently, I noted how he shrunk a few inches when he was in neko form, as opposed to human.

"Anything" he smiled, playing with his collar. We'd decided it would be better if he didn't wear it, as the chances were a lot better for him to not lose it.

I opened the fridge and paused. "Uh, Yugi?"

"Yeah?"

"How about, um, cat food?" I asked, not turning around. My face was beat red, I just knew it.

"Okay. Um…why?"

"I forgot to buy food." I muttered. We looked at each other and laughed. "Okay. If you want to stay here, I will just run down to the store real quick-"

"Do you smell that?" I looked at him. He had transformed into a full cat and had his nose in the air.

"Yugi? Where- _Yugi!_ I shouted as he suddenly ran by me and out the window. I tore out the front door spying his tiny form as it dashed down the street. I ran to catch up.

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We were about a block away from the house when I saw what had caught his attention. A vendor of some kind was at the end of the street. A tall blonde boy had just finished paying for his food and had walked a little ways away to lean against an old, wooden fence. The vendor took his cart and wandered off across the park.

I focused back in on my cat and saw him scale the fence the boy was leaning against. While he was distracted by a couple of girls walking by, Yugi began to eat whatever it was that he'd just bought.

" _Hey!_ " The boy, Joey, I could tell now, grabbed Yugi by the scruff of the neck and held him up to eye level.

"Don't you touch him!" I shouted, hoping I sounded braver than I felt. Joey, as everyone knew, used to run with a gang and from time to time, he still got into fights. Not to mention he was almost a foot taller than me. I grabbed Yugi and held him close. "I…I'm sorry." I panted. " I…Yugi just got out of the house. I didn't mean… I'll but you another one." I looked at his cinnamon roll.

He stared, then chuckled. " You know, I was just thinking to myself how boring today was going to be. I never expected to be mugged by a kitten. What breed is he, anyway? I've never seen a cat like that before."

"Um, well, he's a mix. I've only had him for a few days."

"My name's Joey, by the way." He held out his hand, which I shook.

"I know. We're in the same class. I'm Yami."

"Yami, Yami." He muttered, trying to place my name. " _Oh!_ You're the quiet one who always sits in the back."

"Yes, and this is Yugi."

"Mew." Yugi reached out a paw, pretending to try for joey's food.

"Ah, ah. Not for you. Mine." Joey held it out of his reach.

"Anyway, it was nice to meet you, but I should probably get back and find something for Yugi to eat."

"Yeah. I'll see you around."

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Nothing else happened for the rest of the day, but the next day was Monday. I had to leave Yugi home alone to go to school, and ended up running into Joey right before first bell. I was surprised to have someone talk to me, and was sad when we had to part ways. Glancing at the back of Joey's head in one of the front desks, I had to ask myself, did Yugi plan this? The thought made me smile. I may have been wary of Joey before, but wrongfully so. He was actually very easygoing.

Lunch came around, and I made my way over to my usual spot. I was almost there, when someone grabbed my tray out of my hands. "Why don't you eat with me and my friends today? We don't bite." Joey stood behind me, smiling warmly.

"Alright." I'd never eaten with any of my classmates before, so I was a bit nervous, but I figured that if Yugi could pull a stunt like he did to someone like Joey Wheeler, the least I could do was try to make some new friends.

"Alright, this is Tea," Joey pointed to her as we approached the table, "and this is Tristan."

"Hello. I'm Yami." I introduced myself, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.

"Aren't you in our class? Yeah, you sit in the back." Tea spoke up.

"Anyway, sit down. Anyone who manages to befriend Joey is a friend of mine."

"Gee, Tristan, you make it sound like everyone's afraid of me or something." Joey joked.

"Speaking of which," Tea interrupted, "How you did two become friends anyway? No offence."

"Yesterday, I was on my way home from your place, Tristan, when I found a vendor and got breakfast. Anyway, before I can eat it, some little kitten comes out of nowhere and starts eating right out of my hand." He laughed and we joined in. "I pick him up, trying to figure out where he's from, or if I'm seeing things, when Yami here runs up yelling at me not to hurt his cat."

"I'm sorry, by the way. I will buy you another one." Before I could continue, Joey held up his hand.

"Yami, forget it. I don't hold grudges against friends, and besides, the story will last a lot longer than any old breakfast roll."

I would have responded, but I was still hung up on one little detail. "You're serious? We're friends?"

He cocked his head to the side, "Yeah."

"Joey," Tristan crossed his arms, "You're losing your touch, man." He could no longer hold in his laughter. "Mugged by a kitten! Oh that's rich!" We all began laughing. That's when I realized, I was no longer alone. At home or at school.

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At work I changed into my uniform and began waiting tables. "An American cheeseburger and a spaghetti for two." I called into the kitchen, hanging up the order. I was about to continue on my way when I caught sight of Ryou. The boy was albino, so bruises stood out crystal clear. There was a sizeable one on his cheek, and his back appeared to hurt as he kept trying to stretch it. "Ryou," he looked up, "You alright? What happened?"

He sent a rueful smile my way. "I got mugged the other night. But don't worry, Bakura saved me."

"Are you sure you should be working?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Bakura didn't even want me coming in today, but it looks worse than it really is."

 _"Sennen!_ Get back to work!" My boss yelled.

I took one last look at my small coworker, then turned back to my tables. 'Somethings going on, and I have a feeling that this is just the calm before the storm.'

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Chapter seven is done! And the fun is just about to begin! XD!

NEXT CHAPTER:

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER! Time to celebrate, hang out with friends, discover that bad guys are jerks and nekos probably shouldn't be left home alone. You know the usual. I'll see you then. Review! And has anyone guessed who the bad guy is? I want to know if it was obvious or not.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. I would like to say that one of the reviewers did guess the villain (Congratulations by the way) and one person who reviewed as a guest made a comment I thought was priceless. (You know, I never really considered the millennium puzzle to be a dress code violation, but you are so right. That had never occurred to me. XD) I hope you enjoy.

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The rest of the week passed almost silently. Joey and Yugi had come to a silent agreement that every morning Yugi would drag me down to where Joey and the breakfast vendor waited. We'd talk a bit before I'd send Yugi home and Joey and I would walk to school together, munching on our food. I'd always share with Yugi, though sometimes Joey would feed him. It was adorable watching the two of them communicate.

Another habit my neko had developed was wandering. He'd always go out wandering the woods while I was at school and work. Sometimes he would still be out behind the house when it was time for bed, so I'd leave the kitchen window open for him. I kept scolding him every time he did, though, that one day, some animal would get a hold of him if he wasn't careful, but he'd always just smile and promise to do so.

School ended and Joey convinced me, Tristan, and Tea to celebrate at Burger World. Unfortunately, that left Yugi at home alone. "Are you sure you'll be alright? We'll be out until about eleven."

"Yami, I'll be fine." Yugi grinned, ears perked excitedly.

I put on a leather jacket and looked in the mirror. "Hey, Yugi?"

"Hmm?"

"Do, ah, do I look alright? I mean, this is the first time classmates have asked me out. I don't want to overdress, but I also don't want to underdress. Burger World is a fast food place, so leather might be too much, but we're celebrating the end so school, so does that mean my school uniform jacket is out?" I paused. "I need new jackets."

"Yami." Yugi jumped on me. Because he was in neko form, and I wasn't expecting it, we ended up on the floor, Yugi sitting on me. "Joey, Tristan, and Tea are your friends." He leaned down so we were nose to nose, and spoke slowly, like I was three. "They don't care how you dress, or what jacket you wear. They just want to have fun with their friend."

Suddenly, a loud knocking was heard from downstairs. "That'd be Joey." I picked Yugi up and walked out of my room. By the time we'd reached the bottom of the stairs, he'd shifted to full cat.

"Hey, Yami. Ready to go?" Joey wore a green, jean jacket with a black t- shirt and old blue jeans. I sighed in relief, as I was dressed about the same.

"Yeah, almost. Come on in." I stepped aside and closed the door behind him.

"Whoa, man. Don't your parents ever clean?" he teased, seeing my living room. It was currently a mess, as Yugi and I'd been horsing around earlier, our own version of an end of school celebration.

"Sorry about the mess, by the way. And Yugi and I live alone." I sat my housemate on the couch as I passed by and refilled his water dish. Then I grabbed the mackerel flavored kitty treats, (as soon as Yugi had first had them, I could get him to do anything) and handed a few to Joey. "Play with him for a minute? I'll be right back down."

"Yeah, sure. We're running early anyway." He sat on the ground as Yugi leapt all over him, trying for his hand. Joey held it away from him, and, in a last ditch effort, Yugi pounced on his head to reach the withheld treats. " _Hey_. Do I look like a step stool to you?" he laughed.

Yugi meowed in response. I left the room to grab my wallet, phone, and house keys, and then headed back downstairs. "I see you and Yugi are having fun." I chuckled. Joey was flat on his back, trying to fend off the little kitten.

"Yeah, Yug's cute. Hey, were you serious when you said it's just you two here?"

"Yeah. My parents travel a lot. They send money for the house, but, really, the last time I saw them was about four . . . four and a half years ago. They don't know about Yugi, or even the fact that I have a job."

"Wow. Wait, you have a job? Where?"

"World Cuisine. I'm a waiter."

"That's that fancy place, right? I thought they only hired foreigners?"

"They prefer foreigners, but about two or three people on staff are full Japanese. I'm Egyptian, by the way."

His eyes bugged out. "Sorry. I just realized I'm the most unobservant person in the country, I seriously thought you were native." We laughed at that. "But maybe I could get a job there." He mused.

I cocked my head to the side, absently stroking Yugi, who'd calmed down a bit. "You're foreign? Really? From where?" I'd noticed that Joey didn't exactly look, or sound, for that matter, fully Japanese, but hadn't thought much of it.

"I'm half American. My dad's Japanese, while my mother's American. She raised me and my sister in Brooklyn until I was about eight, then I got sent here. I loved my family, but my mom could tell that I didn't really . . . _fit in._ I moved out here, and I just felt like, I dunno, I was home. Never been here before, I just knew I belonged."

"I was born in Egypt, but my parents immediately moved us to India for their travels. I don't even remember all the countries I visited before I started school. They tried to move me to another school every time we were in a new place, but after six different kindergartens, they settled in Japan for a few years until I was old enough to stay home alone. Then they want right back to exploring the world. So I guess I'm a bit of every country. But both my parents are fully Egyptian. They wanted me to be born in their home country." We sat there in silence for a minute, until a toy mouse sailed between us and hit the clock on the table.

"Ah dang! We're going to be late! Thanks, Yugi!" Joey called, already running for the door.

I followed, stopping just long enough to tell Yugi, "Don't get into trouble without me, alright?"

He grinned. "Mew."

Reassured, I shut and locked the door, then caught up with Joey, who was pretending to pull away from the curb. I jumped in and we headed off.

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The werewolf crouched up a sturdy oak tree. 'Don't bite it,' had been his orders. 'just capture it and bring it to me.' He snorted. His master never liked to lose at anything, and being the only butler in the house, he'd known this for years. He was used to all sorts of orders. And because it was his job to follow each and every one without question, he was now seated fifteen feet off the ground, waiting for the neko boy to appear. He'd long since followed his scent to the house, and discovered his love for exploring the woods, but his master had told him to wait. Wait, because, on the off chance that he got away, there would be someone in that house to help him. But he himself had watched the car drive away. He was alone.

*Snap*

He focused in on the sound. Soft footsteps were heading in his direction. A snarl formed in his throat, but he forced himself to remain silent. He wouldn't alert his prey to his presence. Not yet. He could see him now, just going for a walk.

The werewolf pounced, claws tearing into the flesh of the neko's back. It screamed underneath him, flailing its own claws, but failing to do much damage. He tried to quiet it, but claws tore at his throat. " _You're coming with me!"_ he growled, slashing at the closest arm. The neko was on its back now, silent. They stared at each other. Thinking he'd won, the werewolf moved his paws, attempting to grab it's wrists. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough. The raked his claws across his eyes as viciously as h could, then ran. He ran like the devil himself was after him. Which, in his eyes, he was.

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"What do you mean you 'lost it'?" His boss yelled, furious.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, sir." The werewolf stuttered, eyes closed. That neko had done a number on them, and he wasn't able to open them yet, to see if he'd been blinded or not.

"I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses." Boss growled, his lone eye flashing dangerously. "You _had_ it! It was injured! And yet you not only let it get away, you allowed it to injure you as well! _You're a disgrace!_ " He stopped pacing long enough to think. "Since what has happened cannot be changed, we might as well find a way to make it work for us."

"Sir, as soon as they find it wounded, they'll go get help from others."

"Exactly." The werewolf shuttered at the grin he knew was on his boss's face.

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Sleep. That's all I wanted. To just close my eyes and drift off into sweet oblivion.

"Yami. Wake up. I'm not carrying you inside" I jumped as Joey shook me.

"Hmm? Oh *yawn* sorry. I'm not used to staying up this late."

"Well, you _did_ have fun, right?"

I yawned again. "Defiantly." I smiled as I got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, by the way."

"No problem." He drove away and I went inside.

"Yugi, I'm home!" I called. No answer. Walking into the kitchen, I was greeted to the sight of the window still open. I groaned. Yugi always remembered to close the window when he returned, so this meant that he was still out. 'Oh, well. I'll just have a word with him tomorrow.'

Not bothering to do anything to get ready for bed outside of removing my shoes and jacket, I flopped down and was out before my head hit the pillow.

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When I woke up, the sun was already shining, and birds were awake and singing. I rolled over and looked at my clock. 9:23 am. I was too alert to fall back to sleep by this point, so I sighed and got out of bed to meet Joey at the vendor's for breakfast. I showered, changed, and brushed my teeth, then headed downstairs to where Yugi was waiting for me. Or, where he was usually waiting. Today, all I saw was an empty living room, still messy from the day before.

"Yugi?" I called, beginning to get worried. Absently, I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling a slight breeze. 'Wait, breeze?' I thought. 'That means . . .' My eyes widened, and I spun around. ' _No!'_ The window was open. Yugi never came home last night.

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And that's the end of this chapter. I also have a contest for you all. My 50th reviewer will be given the option of choosing which of a few characters will be appearing in the future. I will PM them a brief description of the part they appear in, and it is up to them to decide who the person is.

NEXT CHAPTER: Yami needs help finding Yugi, but that won't cause more problems, will it?


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

I was a little disappointed with how few people reviewed the last chapter, but am determined to earn more in future chapters XD. In fact, this is where it starts to get very interesting. By the way, it was mentioned earlier that Yugi had had two other Masters in the past. Any idea as to who they were? On with the story! And please, tell my how I'm doing.

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I bolted down the street as fast as I could. My lungs burned and my legs ached. Finally, I saw Joey at the park entrance, munching on something. "Yami," Joey called, waving. Then he frowned. I reached him and bent over, panting. "No Yugi today? Is he sick?"

I managed to get my breath back and stood up straight. "Joey, I need your help. Yugi never came home last night."

"What do you mean?"

"He likes to explore the woods behind my house, but is usually back long before morning. When I woke up, he was still gone."

Joey stopped me there. "Let's go. Yug's still just a little guy. He won't last long if somethings happened." I nodded and we hurried back to my house. "We can cover more ground if we split up."

"Right." We each grabbed a water bottle and a towel for Yugi. Even if he wasn't hurt, he'd still been out all night in the cold.

"Yami, you got your phone on you?" Joey called as we walked out the back door.

"Yeah. Call me if you find anything."

"Same to you. If we don't find him in an hour, I'm calling Tristan and Tea to help us, alright?"

"Yeah." And we headed off in different directions. " _Yugi!"_ I called. " _Yugi! Where are you?"_ 'Please be alright.' I added silently. He was the first friend I'd ever made, and he'd already made such a difference in my life. I wasn't about to lose him now. _"Yugi!"_

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Joey walked off in his direction, looking for Yugi, but also trying to make a mental map of the way back. He wouldn't be much help to anyone if he got lost. "Yug'! Here, kitty! I have some catnip, or, ah, tuna. How about you're mackerel treats!" he thought back to the look on Yami's face when he's said that Yugi was missing. 'I remember that look. It's the same one I saw in the mirror ten years ago, telling Serenity that Buddy and Buster had run away.'

Buddy had been his sister's rambunctious Labrador dog. Buster was Joey's elderly golden retriever. He had come home one day from playing at the park to find they'd dug a hole under the fence and escaped. He'd been so upset that he was nearly bawling on the phone with his mother.

Joey paused to wipe his eyes. Now was not the time to think about them. They _would_ find Yugi. He wouldn't end up like them. Joey would search the whole forest if it meant he would find his little buddy again. "Yugi!" he was still surprised that he'd gotten so attached to the strange- looking kitten. He always thought he was a dog person. But that cat could always tell if something was bothering him. He'd listen to Joey, (while Yami was out of the room, of course) and it was almost like he understood every word he was told. And now, Joey had to return the favor. He always helped out his friends, human or not.

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We'd been searching for about forty- five minutes. Sighing, I heard the stream coming up. I'd crossed it several times already, in several different areas, but no Yugi. My throat was raw from yelling, and I'd stopped hearing Joey a long time ago.

I pulled out my water bottle and knelt by the stream, refilling it. Once it was full, I stood up, looked around and took a drink. As I looked upstream, I choked on my water. Lying on the shore was a body. I ran over as fast as I could and turned him over. " _Yugi!"_ I exclaimed. He was pale, and there were claw marks in his arm, while the back of his shirt was shredded and bloody.

I grabbed the towel and wrapped his injuries in it as best as I could, then picked him up and carried him away from the stream. When we were about thirty feet away, Yugi stirred.

"Mn."

"Yugi?" I gently lay him down, cradling his upper half in my arms.

"Y- Yami?" He whispered hoarsely, opening his eyes partway.

"Yugi, what happened?" He just sighed and shook his head. That's when I remembered. Joey had come with me. He was expecting to find little kitten Yugi, not human Yugi. "Yugi, Joey's looking for you as well . . ."

"Don't worry. That's no problem." He tried to smile, then began to shrink. In about five seconds, I was cradling my kitten as he breathed out slowly and closed his eyes to rest. Before I could stand up, though, I heard a gasp. My head shot up and Joey and I stared at each other for a moment, neither knowing what to say. Before I could think of anything, Joey broke the silence.

"Holy crap! Yugi's a neko?"

I stared at his shocked expression, mirroring it with one of my own. "Y- You know about nekos?"

He nodded mutely, and then shook his head as if to clear it. "We should discuss this later. Right now, we need to focus on Yugi." I nodded and lifted him again. We started back to my house in silence, Joey holding branches out of my way, and asking for directions from time to time. Finally, we got back and Joey led me in through the back door. "Where do you keep your first aid kit?"

"Under the bathroom sink."

"Okay. I'll get it. You put him in bed." I complied and went upstairs, making sure to be as gentle as I could. I found a large, soft pillow and lay him down on it.

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I sighed and put my head in my arms. I was currently sitting at my table in Yugi's spot, watching Joey wash up. Yugi had been bandaged and was now resting upstairs. Apparently, he was able to change forms while unconscious, as we'd found out while cleaning his wounds. Something had done this to my friend. There were claw marks on his back that ran pretty deep, and the gouges in his arm were obviously from some large animal.

"Ahem," I looked up at Joey, who was leaning on the back of the chair across from me, head down. "You asked me how I know about nekos." He straightened up and sat down in the chair.

"Yeah." I whispered, both vocally and emotionally drained. "I'd never even heard of them, other than a story I once read in the second grade. I was still getting used to the fact that I had a cat, to tell the truth."

"Yeah, well, to tell the truth," he paused," Yugi's the first neko I've seen in real life, but I've known of their existence for years." He glanced upstairs, where Yugi was, before continuing. "Tristan and I have been since I first moved here. One day, we were both eight at the time, we got grounded. I forget what for, but being the overdramatic kids that we were, we decided to run away. We packed out backpacks with comics and snacks, took our bikes, and left for the mountains. Well, by the time dusk rolled around, we realized how stupid we were. We spent two days alone, freezing, lost. Both knowing we were going to die, but to stubborn to let the other see our fear."

"What does this have to do with Yugi?"

He breathed out a short, humorless laugh. "After two days, we came upon a clearing. Right in the middle was this deer. It was beautiful, just standing there in the early morning fog. We didn't let it see us. Just stood watching. Out of the trees, however, came this . . . man. He was dressed all in black, just gliding through the forest towards the deer, making absolutely no noise. She didn't even know he was there until it was too late. I remember, to this day, the noise she made when he . . ." he glanced at his hands. "I couldn't watch. When I looked back up, he was gone, and the deer was lying on the ground. We went to see if she was alive, but . . . there were two small holes in her neck. We had just seen a vampire feeding."

"How did you make it back?"

"Search and rescue found us the next day. Got to ride in a rescue vehicle and everything." He tried for a grin, but the memory of the deer was still too fresh. "Tristan and I have been researching what else might be out there ever since. I mean, how did the stories get started in the first place if there's no truth in them?" he stopped talking and I looked up at him.

"Can you help Yugi? I know we wrapped his wounds, but he needs help."

He didn't meet my gaze. "Tristan and Tea can. Tea is training to be a doctor, and Tristan knows more about nekos than I do."

"Alright. Should they come here-"

" _No."_ I jumped, not expecting Joey to snap at me. "Yami, the marks on Yugi,"he took a breath. "I'm almost certain they came from a werewolf. We need to get him out of here. He had blood on his claws, so I'm guessing he managed to fight it off or something, but he could still be tracked here. The best idea I can come up with is to move him to Tristan's place. But he can't stay here."

I thought for a minute. "As long as I can come along."

He grinned slightly. "That's a given, seeing as how you're his Master." He pulled out his phone and stepped into the other room. I tried to find something to eat, not really feeling hungry for anything. "Hey, man. Listen. A friend of mine is hurt real bad . . . no, I can't take him to a hospital . . .Tristan. I need your help, man. He needs help. He's a- he's a neko . . . you know I wouldn't kid about this. He can't stay here . . .because he may be being hunted." There was a long pause, then, "Thank you, Tristan. We'll be there soon. Bye." He returned to the kitchen and grabbed his coat. "You get him ready to travel. I'll get my car ready. The sooner we get there, the better."

"Agreed." I went upstairs and carefully wrapped the blanket he was under around him, then lifted him and walked slowly back downstairs to wait for Joey.

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Tristan opened the door when on the second knock. He took one look at Yugi and led us over to the bed in the living room. "Duke!" he called down the hall, "They're here. Can you give me a hand?"

"Yeah, give me a second." Came the reply. I got Yugi as comfortable as I could while Joey was busy filling Tristan in on everything that had happened. "Joey," I heard him whisper, "I thought we agreed to never tell anyone about that man."

"Tristan, his cat just turned into a human. I think he can keep a secret."

"So, what do you need my help with? Tea's on her way, you know." A boy about our age walked out. He wore dice earrings, a red headband, and a slightly annoyed expression.

"We know, Duke. But you kinda have more know- how than her." Tristan explained.

"Yeah, yeah. Well-" Duke broke off and stared at Yugi. "Oh, my God. That's the neko?"

"You know him?" I questioned.

"Yeah. A couple of years ago, he was one of my best friends."

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Thanks for reading! Please review! And who do you think are Yugi's former Masters?


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for all of your reviews! They really inspire me to type faster! I would also like to remind anyone who might not know, even if you don't have an account, you can still review and tell me what you think. By the way, just a heads up, I will not be able to update or type for spring break, so there will be maybe a while where you don't hear anything from me, but I will be back. And while I'm at it, I am so sorry, but I realized after I updated last that I had forgotten to include a chapter preview. I will do my best to make sure that this does not happen again, and, also, here is an extra- long chapter. On with the story!

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Joey and Tristan had the TV volume down to three so it wouldn't disturb anyone. I was in the kitchen, making dinner for everyone. Yugi was still asleep in bed. And Duke. Duke hadn't left his side since he first saw him. When we'd questioned him, tried to get him to explain further, all he'd said was that they'd both been in a bad situation together. He had managed to escape, but had given up hope of seeing his friend again.

"Hey," I looked up, coming out of my thoughts. Duke stood in the doorway.

"What's up?" I asked.

"One thing has been bugging me. Why do you act so oblivious? You act like you're just now finding out that we exist. I mean, you've had Yugi for years now, right? Being his second Master and all."

I cut him off there. "I'm not his second, I'm his third. And what do you mean, 'we'?"

"You're Yugi's third? But that means," he dropped his gaze to the floor. "Wow. Poor kid. That means his last three lives only lasted him two and a half years."

"I've had Yugi for about two weeks now. He mentioned something about his previous Masters. Do you – "

"I'm sorry. It's not my story to tell." Before I could respond, we a knock sounded from the door, prompting an argument from the other room.

"Joey get the door."

"You get it. You're sitting on my feet."

"Because you didn't move."

"Make Duke get it."

"Duke get the door!" Tristan called.

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses." I put the lid back on dinner and followed Duke . he opened the door and let Tea in.

"Hey, guys. So since my phones being a jerk, I'm going to have you fill me in now. Tristan, I was only able to make out a few things you said, and I think I got out that someone's hurt, or Joey got a cat, or something like that."

"Are you sure she can be told?" I glanced at Joey and Tristan, who were still seated on the floor.

"Yeah. Don't worry. Tea's one of the most trustworthy people we know."

Meanwhile, Duke was filling Tea in on why she had been called out to her friend's house. "Your patient is a wounded neko. He is over here-" He was cut off as she began to laugh.

"Oh, my God. You almost had me there."

"You don't believe we exist, do you?" I moved to sit beside Yugi when I heard the dark tone Duke had suddenly taken on.

"We? Wh- What do you mean?" Tea had stopped laughing, sensing something was wrong. Nobody had joined in.

"What I mean is, nekos, werewolves, vampires, dragons, they're all real. And one of them needs your help. Are you going to do something, or- "

"Oh, please. Do I look stupid to you? Vampires and dragons, real? Are you insa-" She trailed off as Duke apparently lost his temper. He whirled around, now facing everyone in the room except for me and Yugi, unfurled two huge, dark grey wings. I couldn't see his face, but I heard him as he snarled, "Do I lookreal to you _now_?"

 _"Duke!"_ Tristan snapped, standing up. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

His wings dropped as he realized what he'd done. Tea looked absolutely terrified. "I'm sorry, Tea. I tend to act without thinking sometimes. Please. We really do need your help."

"You'll have to give me a minute to process all of this." She said, backing back out the door.

"Don't worry, Duke. Tea's probably the most adaptable girl I know. Just give her a minute, and I'm sure she'll be right back." Tristan reassured him. Meanwhile, Joey seemed to recover from where he'd apparently frozen.

 _"Vampire!"_

"Thank you, Capitan Obvious. I had no idea." Tristan rolled his eyes.

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It was now two days after we had first brought Yugi to the apartment. Tristan had been right. Tea had returned about five minutes later, checked Yugi out, and re- dressed his wounds as if everyone she saw had cat parts.

Joey had calmed down and was now cool with Duke, although he still found reasons to avoid him if the Vampiric teen mentioned food or blood. And everyone had taken to sleeping over, except for Tea, being the only girl.

Yugi had woken up and was ecstatic about seeing Duke again. He was healing nicely, a lot better than if I had been trying to help him on my own. He flatly refused to talk about what had happened, though, so all we had were our ideas.

Currently, though, Yugi and Duke were home alone while Tea and Joey were at the local library. Ever since she'd been put in charge of the health of a being she had had no previous knowledge of having even existed, she'd devoted all her free time to learning absolutely anything of even minor importance. Tristan and I had decided to make a food run. Apparently, six teenagers go through a ton of food. Although Duke choses to fly out every night to hunt animals, a fact that turns Joey white, if he can't find anything, Tristan will let him take a bit of his blood to tide him over. (That explained his strange 'sickness' from the day I'd met Yugi).

"Do you think we got enough? I mean, you know Joey's appetite."

"Oh, and yours isn't trying to compete?" I teased. We both had our hands full with shopping bags, so when we reached the door of his apartment, I tapped my foot against the door instead of knocking. I turned back to Tristan, intent on continuing our conversation, when the sharp report of gunfire suddenly sounded.

We glanced at each other, already ridding our hands of the hindering bags. Immediately after the guns went off, came a voice. A voice we recognized. "Ha ha! Take that, Yugi!"

"Ah! Duke, knock it off! Stop shooting at me!"

 _*BAM*_

We burst through the door, ready to attack, only to see a very confused Yugi sitting on the floor. Duke, grinning, was by him, video game controllers in both of their hands. "Yami? Where are the groceries? I thought you two went shopping?" Yugi tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Uh, yeah. They, they're . . . I'll go get them." I shook my head and retrieved the bags with Tristan's help, and headed for the kitchen.

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"Hello," Joey called, "Anybody home? We got pizza!"

"Welcome back Joey, Tea." Yugi pounced playfully on Joey's shoelaces, accidently untying them.

"Oh, my God. Yugi! You're so cute!" Tea scooped him up and hugged him, being careful of his bandages. She stopped when she noticed us, (minus the resident vampire, who had fallen asleep on the floor) staring at her first encounter with kitten Yugi. "What?" She demanded. "As much as I may not act it, I do happen to be a girl, you know."

"Yeah. Anyway, how about some dinner? We've got pepperoni and ultimate. And it's going to be just us guys for dinner tonight. Tea's just here to drop her things off before she has to go cover for another intern at the hospital again."

"I will be coming back here, though. So try to save me some pizza?" She set her book bag on the floor out of the way and looked Yugi over. He was a bit stiff, but we were making sure he got plenty of rest, so he was expected to be back to normal in no time. Satisfied that he was well, Tea set him down, called a quick good- bye to the rest of us, and headed out.

"I'll put these in the kitchen. Don't want my house becoming even more of a sty." Tristan relieved Joey of the pizzas and took them into the kitchen.

I found myself laughing slightly at Yugi. "Girls really do love kittens, huh?"

"Yeah." Joey replied, "Lucky bas- _Ahh!"_ Joey tripped over his shoelaces, falling right on Duke, who woke up instantly on the defensive thinking he was under attack. When he realized that it was just Joey, he began wrestling, both making a bit of a mess. Yugi and I watched from our spot on the bed, legs pulled up and out of the way.

"Duke, Joey." Tristan called, "Duke! Joey! Oh, for the love of . . . _Wheeler! Devlin!_ Clean up that room now! Stop trashing my place!" both boys froze. Tristan stood in the kitchen doorway. When he spoke, it was slowly and clearly. "I pay the rent. I bought the furniture. I allow you the luxury of not sleeping on the streets," he looked pointedly at Duke. "I allow you to eat my food, drink my blood, play my games, but for God's sake, get along or I swear you'll be out. Start acting more like Yugi and Yami. They haven't gotten on my nerves since they moved in. Grow up!" We all stared.

"Tristan,"

"Just clean up in there, Duke. Dinners ready." And with that, he walked back into the kitchen, hands clasped behind his head, sighing. The boys on the floor looked at each other, then silently began placing everything back where it went. A broken plate was deposited in the trash, along with old snack wrappers and a stale waffle.

Once that was done, Duke silently slipped into the kitchen, while Joey sat on the floor, leaning against the bad by me and my little neko friend. "Are you alright, Joey?" Yugi placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Yug'. I'm fine. Just going to give Tristan some time to cool off. I guess its not easy taking so many people into your home at once, not to mention everything else that's been going on. I'll apologize as soon as Duke's done talking to him."

"Which would be now. And I accept you're apology. I was just venting. As you said, everything has been happening at once."

"Well, we're all a team now, so we'll just deal with whatever comes next together." Everyone smiled at my words.

"Deal." Replied Tristan. Then Duke. Then Joey, and Yugi. With that resolved, we all migrated to the kitchen for pizza. That lasted for about five minutes before we returned to the living room with our food. What can I say? We're teenagers, with no adults around.

"Hey, where'd my waffle go? Joey . . ."

"Sorry Tristan."

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If we'd known, none of us would have let him leave.

"Its getting pretty dark out. Plus, Tea's got a long walk back here."

Not in a million years.

"So you're going to walk her home? Awfully gentlemanly of you."

"Shut up, Tristan."

But we didn't know.

"Yeah, yeah. Get going, already."

And we let him walk out that door.

"See you in about twenty minutes, guys."

Not knowing we'd never see Joey the same way ever again.

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Joey walked down the street, focused on getting to the hospital. 'Man, can't she get a car so I don't have to worry about her being out after dark?'

Joey and Tristan had met Tea when they were eleven, and she was like a sister to them. The boys' argument about Tristan getting a roommate had torn her apart as much as, if not more than the both of them.

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. 'Finally. Almost there.' He silently cheered, spying the lights of the hospital about a block away. 'Tea, girl, you'd better not have left yet. I don't want to find out I walked all this way for nothing. Gentlemanly. Ha! I'll show him. I'm more gentlemanly than-'his thoughts were cut off as he was pulled into an ally. A pair of huge, muscle- bound arms wrapped him in a vise- like grip, but what shocked Joey the most was the fact that the arms were covered in thick, coarse, fur. Claws ensnared his wrists and held him tight against a shaggy chest. A low, gravelly voice whispered in his ear, what felt like whiskers tickling it. "Show me the neko, and maybe I'll let you go."

The mention of Joey's little buddy caused his fear to turn to anger, then rage. Quickly putting to and two together, he realized that this must be the thing that attacked Yugi. And not only was he still after him, he was trying to get Joey to betray him.

"Don't try to deny it. I can smell it all over you. Now, where is it?"

"It? _It?_ What right do you have to talk about my pal like that?" And with a mighty battle cry, Joey swung his legs up, using the tight hold on his upper body to his advantage, and swung them back down into his enemy's knees. Being a werewolf, his knees naturally bent backwards, but the force of the blow did knock him down, causing him to release his captive. The teen whirled around, ready to deliver a powerful kick to his to the beast, but was unprepared for how fast he recovered. The last thing he saw was a flash of white teeth, before the still night air was broken by a harsh, pained, scream.

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"Hi, guys. Miss me?" we were all gathered in the kitchen, cleaning up before the others got back. Well, Duke had left to go hunting, but Yugi, Tristan, and I had things handled.

"Welcome back, you two." I stepped into the living room, only to see Tea looking at me, confused.

"Um, two?"

"Joey didn't walk you home?" I was beginning to worry. Joey had left over half an hour ago. It only took about ten minutes to get to the hospital, but we'd just assumed that Tea hadn't been done yet by the time he'd gotten there.

"No? I mean, maybe I passed him, but I don't think so. The streets were pretty empty. When did he leave?"

"About thirty minutes ago." By this time, Yugi and Tristan had joined us.

"You think somethings happened to Joey?" Yugi asked worriedly.

"I don't know, Yugi, but Joey's strong. I'm sure he'll be fine." I could clearly hear the front in Tristan's voice, trying to reassure the small neko when he himself wasn't even completely convinced.

"But what if he's hurt? O-or somethings happened? We should go look."

"I agree with Yugi. I can't picture him just getting distracted. And theres already been enough time for him to reach the hospital, find out Tea's not there, and get back here. He wouldn't just let you walk all the way here alone, so something must be wrong. Yugi, Yami, you check the road from here to the hospital. He may be along there, somewhere. Tea and I will . . ."

 _*Slam*_

The front door burst open at Duke's kick. He stood in the doorway, Joey's arm slung over his shoulder. "Help. I found him in an ally. He was attacked. "We all stared at the two. Duke's eyes were terrifies as he supported the unconscious Joey, who was bleeding heavily from a wound on his left shoulder.

I looked down at the sound of a whimper. Yugi's eyes were glassy, as if he was seeing something else. Tristan, Tea, and Duke had moved Joey to the bed, and were now working on him. "Yugi?" I placed a hand on his arm. "What's wrong?"

"Atem." Was the only thing he whispered before his knees gave out and he curled into a ball, shaking.

"Yugi?"

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And that's the end of that! Thank you all for reading and please review. Your reviews encourage me to type faster!

NEXT CHAPTER- Duke spills his guts, and Joey wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.

I'll see you there! And what do you think Atem has to do with all of this?


	11. Chapter 11

*Somewhere in a graveyard* It was dark. Creepy mist floated everywhere. The camera zooms into a headstone. ktkat9. Suddenly, a hand breaks free of the earth. _"I livvvve!"_ Now that that is done, I'm back with another chapter XD. Thank you all for your patience and all of your reviews. They really make my day and inspire me to work faster. Again, I am sorry for the wait, but here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

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"Does anybody have any idea what did this?" Tea asked wearily.

"Judging by the mark, I have a few theories. However, taking into account Yugi's reaction, I can only think of one." Duke's reply was grim and he never lifted his head from where he'd been spacing out. After Yugi's breakdown, we had put him to bed in Duke's room. Joey occupied the bed in the living room, while the rest of us were in the kitchen.

"You know what did this, Duke?" Tristan asked. "Joey's tough. I can't imagine this thing going down easy, whatever it is."

"You're right. It won't be easy to take down, but right now, the real problem will be Joey." I turned towards the small voice. Yugi was standing in the doorway, rubbing either sleep or tears from his eyes. I couldn't tell.

"I know, but it really looked worse than it was. Plus, Tea had her supplies with her, so it won't get infected or anything. Joey should be back to . . ."

" _Don't say normal!_ I know what attacked him and he won't be back to normal! I could have prevented it this time . . . but now . . ." he trailed off, tears falling, tail wrapped tightly around his lag, while his ears were flat against his head. "It's the same thing, all over again." He whispered.

"What do you mean, 'same thing'?" I asked, hugging him close, trying to calm him down.

"Yami," Duke walked up to us, "Give him to me. I'll be back in a minute." He wrapped his arms around Yugi and gently guided him back to the bedroom. I stared after them, worried. The closest I'd ever seen Yugi to his current state was back when I'd first met him.

"Yami,"I looked up as Tristan put a hand on my shoulder. "Do you know who 'Atem' might be?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "No. I have no-"

"Atem was Yugi's best friend." Duke walked back in, looking tired. He strode past us and sat down heavily in his seat. "Before I begin, I should warn you that this is a long story, and you should probably sit down." We each pulled out a chair and sat around the small kitchen. "Where do I begin?" he murmured absently, then closed his eyes. "Five years ago, I got captured. I was just flying around the mountains when somebody shot right through my wing. They were waiting for me when I landed. Knew how to subdue me instantly. When I woke up, I found myself in a large steel cage. One of many. There were rows and rows of them. Werewolves, fellow vampires, there was a tank in the back for aquatic creatures like merfolk and sirens, naga, kitsune," he bowed his head. "And Yugi. He was in a cage across the isle from me. Of course, I didn't know him then, but he was the only neko I saw. He asked if I was alright, then explained where we were. Apparently, his first Master had liked the idea of there being mystical creatures. Enough to capitalize on it. He met Yugi, and then used his resources to track and trap all sorts of creatures. His butler ended up getting bit by a werewolf, so he was used as muscle and as a tracker. Pretty soon, the man, he made everyone call him 'Boss', he had a private zoo like no other. Then he began getting a clientele. People would come to see, sometimes even buy, or sell, us. Occasionally, he would have some perform. Yugi was his prized attraction because, as his neko, he was duty- bound to do anything Boss wanted him to." He paused to collect his thoughts. "It was hell. One day, a man brought his son. He showed him around, pointing to all of us, saying that nothing was impossible. Trying to show the boy that Boss had become so successful that he was able to capture fables themselves. Beasts, creatures, prizes. He referred to us as though we were nothing more than trophies. The boy looked sickened."

He paused, and I saw something flash in his eyes briefly, but it was gone before I could tell what it was.

"He looked horrified and disgusted, and, at first, I thought he was just another rich snob not wanting to mingle with the likes of 'foul beasts' such as ourselves. But then, the dad wanted to talk to Boss. He'd caught a creature and wanted to sell it. They left the boy to see what a powerful man could do. As soon as the door closed, he was on his knees by Yugi's cage.

 _/Flashback /_

"Easy, easy. I won't hurt you. I know you can talk, so I know you can understand me." The boy knelt down outside the cage of the little, lone neko. The neko that looked like him. Though, while the boy was tan, the neko was pale. And he was a bit taller, too. But, otherwise, they looked remarkably similar.

"Wh- What do you, um, want?" came the timid reply.

"What I want," the boy whispered, "is to end all this inhumanity; they call you all beasts and monsters, while they do this for sport and profit. Father and all the others are too stubborn to release you, so I promise to do what I can. Will you trust me?"

The neko, until this point, had huddled himself against the back of his cage in fear. But now, with the boy tentatively sticking his hand through the bars of his prison, staring with such serious crimson eyes, he slowly crept forward, never removing his gaze. As this was still his first Master, he'd never met any human who treated him as anything other than dirt. Maybe, at best a mildly cute pet. But this boy was different. He asked for nothing, outside of trust. The neko, timidly, decided to trust his instincts and reached out his paw, placing it in the stranger's hand.

"My name is Atem. Atem Ferro. Do you have a name?"

"No. Master only calls me Neko." Neko whispered back.

"Hmm. Would it be alright if I named you, then?"

"Master says only can name me."

"Well, I can't just call you 'Neko'. I know. How about a nickname?"

"Nickname?"

"It's not your name, but still something that one or a few people are allowed to call you. For example, my friend Marik likes to call me 'Pharaoh,' because that's how you pronounce my last name."

"Atem. We're leaving." His father called.

"I'll come visit soon. And I'll think of a nickname for you, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

 _/Flashback end/_

"The boy left with his father and Boss led in his new purchase. A pure white Pegasus that he chained to the wall near us. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Atem managed to get a job from Boss as our caretaker. He and Yugi got closer and closer. They were almost brothers. He ended up giving Yugi the nickname 'Aibou,' which means 'partner'. Atem promised to find a way to free us all, but since the guards were known for killing any escapees, and the fact that Yugi was bound to Boss, that proved to be easier said then done. Two years went by, and no way out was found. Atem took to sneaking us things from the outside world. Yugi had lost two of his lives, once when a naga got loose, and again when a siren tried to posses a guard. She couldn't control him and he ended up going crazy. There were about seven casualties, including Yugi. When Atem found the next day what had happened, he freaked. After that, he became very protective of Yugi. Unfortunately, he couldn't protect him from everything. Not even himself.

 _/Flashback/_

"Good morning, Aibou." Atem opened the cage door, holding breakfast in one hand, while the door, key, and a candy cane were in the other.

"Morning." He yawned, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and walked towards his friend. "What did you bring today?"

"A few sugar cubes for the Silent one," Atem replied, using the common nickname for the pegasus, "A set of dice for Duke, so he can stop threatening to bite me," he glared playfully at the vampire, "and I managed to find a candy cane for you. Careful. Take the plastic off first." His grin brightened as he watched the neko's eyes go wide, and then roll back and close with a blissful sigh as he savored his treat. Atem reached his hand out and scratched his friend behind the ears.

*Purrrrrrrrrrr*

"I thought you might like that. Anyway, here's breakfast. I'll be back after I've finished-"

 _*Crash*_

" _Shit! Help! Guards, he's trying to escape!"_ they both spun around to see what was going on a few rows down. A large werewolf was already fighting three guards.

"Aibou, stay here. I have to help." Atem swung the door shut and ran off, not glancing back to see Aibou wedge his candy cane in the latch and ease his way out. Atem would need help. The werewolf had already knocked out two guards and wounded the other.

It was backed into a corner by the time Atem got to the scene, and the remaining guard had just raised his tranquilizer gun, when the werewolf suddenly lunged forward, swinging his massive paws like the dangerous weapons they were. The gun went flying and he focused on the guard. Atem turned and ran for the gun, but the werewolf was faster.

The world suddenly moved in slow motion for Aibou, as he was just in time to see fangs sink into his friend's forearm. _"Atem!"_ He ran as fast as he could for the fallen boy.

While the beast was distracted by Atem, the guard had managed to retrieve the gun and fire. The werewolf hit the ground, but the damage was already done. Aibou reached Atem's side, the guard hauling the unconscious monster from the room to where the dangerous exhibits were put.

 _/Flashback end/_

"Yugi didn't know what happens when a werewolf bites someone. Atem did, but, well, he couldn't really say anything. While everyone else was busy with the werewolf and the injured guards, Yugi got Atem into the night guard's room. Nobody ever went in there, but there was a bed, and it was close." Duke paused again.

My mind was reeling. Yugi, my Yugi, had been through all that? No wonder he'd been so scared of me at first. His first Master had put him in a zoo to make money off him. That creep, Boss, or whoever, hadn't even given him a name.

"What happened to Atem?" Tea asked.

"Tristan, you know what happens when a human is bitten by a werewolf, right?" Duke didn't look to keen on the idea of explaining.

I glanced at Tristan, feeling worried when I saw his expression. When he spoke, it was as if he was reading straight from a book. "A full moon means nothing. The idea is thought to have come from the 'first transformation,' or first time a new werewolf transforms. It is always when the sun sets on the day they were bitten. They," he looked away, towards the living room, and swallowed thickly. Then he whispered, "They go crazy, destroying anything in their path. Once the night is over, they're sane again, and the human DNA and wolf DNA can coincide in the same body. I'm guessing that's what happened to Atem?"

" . . . Yeah. He kept trying to tell Yugi to go away, to get somewhere safe, but Yugi wouldn't listen. Atem began to transform, but by the time Yugi realized what was going on, it was too late. He . . . he tried to release us. He got Silent unchained and my cage unlocked. I-I saw him get hit. Atem was after anything that moved, and Yugi was moving. I flew up to the rafters and saw the whole thing." Duke. Big, strong, vampire Duke had tears in his eyes. "He killed everyone. I couldn't bear to see anymore, so, when I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything to help, I . . . I left. I know it as horrible, but I couldn't fight him. I couldn't bring myself to go back down there. I don't know what happened after that, but I heard on the grapevine that no humans ever saw Atem again, but there was a new rouge werewolf in the area."

We were all silent.

"So now you see. We need to find somewhere for Joey." I turned around and saw Yugi, teary-eyed, but determined.

"Yugi, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"it was a different life. Right now, we need to focus on Joey. Since it's already night, we only have until he wakes up. After that," his gaze wavered and he suddenly looked like my scared neko again.

Tristan spoke up. "Maybe we could use one of the storage units next door. They keep all the empty units unlocked, and they're made of, like, steel and concrete."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah."

"I agree. Except, how will we get him there?" I asked.

"I'm a vampire. I'm a lot stronger than I look. Granted not as strong as an insane werewolf, but still-" He was suddenly cut off by the sound none of us wanted to hear.

 _*Thump*_

 _"HOOOOOWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLL"_

Joey had woken up.

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Dun dun dun. Sorry about the long wait, but here is the next chapter! By the way, I had an idea that somebody should make a one-shot of! What if Ushio,( from season 0 ) had actually thought that Yugi was getting picked on by Joey and Tristan? And he had been only trying to defend Yugi when he beat them up? Like, no 'I'm a jerk doing this to show my power and blackmail people out of their money,' but he was actually trying to make friends with Yugi? Somebody should do that, you know, if you want.

NEXT CHAPTER: Avoiding the big bad wolf, and that's not the only problem . . . (is it ever?) see you there! And please remember to review! X3


	12. Chapter 12

And here is the next chapter! Please read and review! And Enjoy! Oh, and if you like Yugioh 5Ds, check out my profile! I have another story up!

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Duke whirled around and punched a hole in the wall of the kitchen, just behind the sink. "This way, hurry!" we began to climb out into the hall outside the apartment. "Come on! That door won't last long! We gotta run!" I clutched Yugi's hand and sprinted after them.

 _*Crash*_

I spared a glance back to see a large, wolf-like beast standing in the hallway. Its fur was the same color as Joey's hair, but its eyes were dark. He truly looked like a predator, not a single trace of our constantly grinning friend.

We reached the bottom of the stairwell ad bolted out the front door. "Tristan, take Tea! I'll try to lead him away! We only have to hold out until sunrise!" Duke yelled.

Tristan grabbed Tea's hand and ran down an ally to the right of the door. Yugi and I ran across the street. Just as we were halfway, though, we heard Joey burst through the doors and pounce on Duke.

"Yami, Run! Don't look back!" Yugi was frantic, almost in hysterics at this point. He kept a firm grip on my hand, pulling me across to the other sidewalk. "Duke is a lot stronger than he looks! Just run!" we bolted down the street, the sounds of fighting long behind us. About six blocks later, we slowed to a walk. "Yami? Wh-why are we stopping?" Yugi panted.

"We can't just keep running, Yugi. Besides, we don't even know where Joey is."

He took a deep breath. "Your right. We need to conserve our energy and thin- _Ahhh!"_ he broke off and clutched his neck.

"Yugi? What's wrong? Are you alrigh-" I was cut off as a n ear piercing howl shattered the previous silence.

"Run! C'mon Yami! He's catching up!" Yugi snatched my hand and took off down the street. I chanced a look behind me and could just make out Joey far behind us.

"Yugi, faster! He's catching up! Yugi? _Yugi!"_ He had begun to fall behind, then, without warning, tripped and fell to the sidewalk. I caught him before he landed, but there was something wrong; he was having trouble staying conscious and his eyes were glassy and unseeing. "Yugi? Speak to me. What's wrong?"

 _"Get up! Run!"_ Duke scooped Yugi up and hauled me to my feet. "Just stay with me, we'll lose him in the alleys!" I had to push my legs to their limits just to keep up with them, but a few alleys later, we stopped, no longer hearing Joey. "What happened?" Duke asked, leaning against the dirty brick wall.

I looked at him, still trying to catch my breath. "I don't know. He just collapsed. Is he alright?" I was getting worried. Yugi was unconscious and Duke was silently examining him.

"What's this?" he murmured, pulling something from Yugi's hand. It was a small dart of some sort. "This is bad." He said, rolling it between his fingers. "Its not just Joey we have to look out for." He paused, chucking the dart away. "We're being hunted."

"Hunted?" I asked, taking Yugi's limp from in my arms. "By who?"

"If the scent from that dart was anything to go on, Boss."

"You mean the one you and Yugi were imprisoned by?"

"Yeah. And, knowing him, this has all been planned out. Probably from when they bit Joey. They wanted us out in the open, focusing on our survival rather than if we were being followed by someone other than Joey." He suddenly stiffened. "Yami, give me Yugi."

I complied and kept my voice low. "What is it?"

"We need to run. They're here. I can smell them." He stood up silently, adjusting Yugi as he went. "Yami, when I say, run as fast as you can. We've hemmed ourselves in in the alley. If we get to the street, we might have a chance." I nodded, then froze as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. _"Move!"_

I was ahead of them, Duke keeping up with Yugi, when what felt like a brick wall slammed into me. I hit the side of the building and lay stunned. Around me, the world spun. A blurry, dark shape had cornered who I thought was Duke, though it was hard to tell for sure, and began exchanging blows with the vampire. _"Yami! Get up! Get out of here!"_ I could see he was trying to protect my unconscious neko, but against a large werewolf, there wasn't much he could do.

I staggered to my feet and clenched a hand to head, swallowing bile as it came away bloody. _"Yami! Look out!"_ I heard right before the world went dark.

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". . .ami . . .Yami . . .can . . .hear me . . ." Someone was calling me. That much I could tell. But sounded like they were far away. "Yami, please wake up."

"T-Tea?" I whispered.

"Yami! Oh, thank God. We were so worried about you." I slowly tried to open my eyes, focusing in on the worried faces of Tea and Tristan.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked as Tristan helped me carefully sit up.

"You tell us, man. We only just found you."

I winced, trying to remember. "Joey. He was chasing us. And Yugi . . . _Yugi!_ Where is he?" I bolted to my feet, but wavered and would have fallen had Tristan not caught me.

"Hey, take it easy, Yami. You were hit pretty herd."

"Wh-where's Yugi? Where is he?" I asked.

"We don't know. I'm so sorry."

I sank back to the ground, disbelieving. 'I let them take him,' I thought. 'I promised I'd protect him. And now they have him.'

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Yugi slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he was still a bit sleepy. He blinked his eyes and yawned, then stretched. Feeling his tail behind him, he was able to tell that he was in neko form. 'I don't remember falling asleep.' He thought. 'Come to think of it, I don't remember Tristan's bed being this hard, either.' At that thought, Yugi's eyes shot open, this time frantically taking in his surroundings. 'No, this can't be happening. This is impossible.' He began panicking, his tail tucked firmly under him.

"Yug'?" A voice asked timidly. Yugi spun around to face whoever had spoken. Across the aisle separating the rows of cages, was a familiar blonde. "Yug?" he asked again, "Are you alright? I . . . I-I'm so sorry. I don't know why I at-attac-" he broke off, unable to continue. He lowered his head, full of guilt and shame. "I don't know why I went after you guys. It was like, I don't know, I couldn't control myself."

As soon as Yugi had spotted Joey, he had pressed himself as hard as he could against the back wall of his cage. He pulled his knees to his chest while his hand was at his neck, nursing the remembered pain from where Atem had taken his third life.

After not hearing any response, Joey raised his head to look at Yugi. "I'm so sorry, Yugi."

Shakily, Yugi swallowed, but before he could speak, however, the door swung open, revealing the reason they were there. Yugi whimpered and got into a defensive stance, tail between his legs and ears flat. "Boss." He whispered. Joey had no idea who this creep was, other than Yugi was terrified of him.

The man turned to someone behind him. "Put the vampire in the cage by the new werewolf, and then bring me the neko."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Pegasus."

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How many people knew it was him? Huh? Things are really heating up! And they're just going to get better! Please review! And check out my other story, too!

NEXT CHAPTER: To the rescue! And Tristan's way of keeping people safe.


	13. Chapter 13

Welcome to the next chapter! Thank you for your reviews and I hope you enjoy! And before I forget, the one hundredth reviewer gets to request a one shot from me! But I will not write a lemon. On with the story!

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"Yami, calm down. We'll find them." Tea tried again, to no avail, to get my attention. We were back at Tristan's house, trying to figure out what to do next, but I just couldn't sit still. I wanted . . . no, I _needed_ to be out there. I needed to do something, anything to get him back.

"Where the hell is Tristan?" I almost growled. We had a crisis on our hands, yet the instant we'd gotten back, he'd locked himself in Duke's room.

"Right here." I turned towards the hallway. Tristan stood there, holding out a small device. It looked like a cross between one of those old-fashioned walkie-talkies, and a hand-held video game.

"What is that?" Tea asked, just as confused as me.

"A receiver. I put a tracer in Duke's shoe, just in case." He replied, absently fiddling with it.

Tea and I looked at each other. "What exactly are you even doing with one of those?" I questioned.

At this, Tristan paused. "I come from an overly paranoid family. I kind of learned from an early age to plan for all sorts of emergencies. Especially when it comes to the people I care about. I snuck a tracer in his boot just in case something was to happen."

Tea and I were silent for a moment, then simultaneously took off our shoes and looked inside. I saw nothing.

There's a small space carved out beneath the padding in the bottom." He offered.

"I'm not even going to ask how long you've been doing this." Tea muttered, replacing her shoe.

"That's probably for the best." Tristan spun one of the knobs on the receiver a little, then switched and spun it the other way. "I haven't actually had to use the damn thing since last year, though, so bear with me." We sat in silence, hardly daring to breathe.

 _*Ping*_

"Yes! I got a signal." He pumped a fist in the air.

"Where are they?" Tea hurried over and peered at the screen.

"Better question is, what are we going to do now?" I hadn't moved from my spot.

"What do you-"

"What I mean is," I cut her off; "we're humans. We're just three normal, mortal, humans. They took down the powerful ones on our team easily. Explain to me how we stand a chance in fighting them."

Sobered, they looked at me, then each other. "W-we can't just leave them there." Tristan stuttered.

"I know. And we're not going to . I'm just saying that we need a plan, weapons, anything." I began pacing, my footsteps becoming the only sounds for a minute, save for the constant pinging of the receiver.

"Yami," I looked up as Tea broke the silence. "Can you shoot? You said we need weapons, but do you know how to use one?" I eyed her, wondering what she was planning.

"Yes." I nodded. "I was taught from a young age to shoot a gun, use a knife, hand-to-hand combat, you get the idea. I just haven't had to for a few years now." Tea remained silent. "Do you have an idea?" I prompted. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, I have an idea. I just wish it was something else."

"Tea?" Tristan put a concerned hand on her shoulder.

Tea pulled out a key ring and held up one key. "Does anybody object to breaking into Joey's apartment to commandeer his gun collection?"

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 _*Bang*_

Joey walked to the back of his cage, panting and holding his shoulder.

"Joey, stop. You're just going to hurt yourself." Duke tried from where he sat on the floor of his cage.

"Yeah?" Joey gritted his teeth, rubbing his shoulder. "Well, at least _I'm_ doing something!"

"I am doing something, Joey. I'm waiting."

"For what?" Joey felt anger burning in his gut. To pass the time, Duke had filled Joey in on his past with Yugi and Atem. "Who knows what those creeps are doing to Yugi, and you're just _sitting_ there!"

"Joey. Calm down. Don't let your wolf side take control." Duke didn't even glance his way. "And, for your information, if we break out now and go wandering around blindly searching for Yugi, we're just going to get caught. Trust me; our only chance is to wait until they put Yugi back in his cage."

"Are you saying you actually have a way out of here?"

"I had Tristan teach me a few things, yes." Duke allowed himself a smirk in Joey's direction. "But I need to know if your wolf and human DNA have fully bonded yet. Try to change forms."

Joey stepped back to give himself more room, then hesitated. "Duke, just in case I, you know, go all crazy and everything again, could you move?" They may have been in their own cages, but he could still reach through the bars.

Duke stood and leaned against one of the bars on the far wall.

Joey closed his eyes and focused. He felt his hair grow, and then fur began to sprout from all over. Suddenly, he could smell everything, and hear, too. His senses were going into overdrive. He hardly had any time to ponder how cool that was, though, because at that moment, his joints snapped. He tried to scream, but what met his ears instead was a roar. An animalistic howl of anguish. Muscles stretched, bones elongated, spine twisted into an inhuman shape. But he wasn't human. Not anymore. As soon as it had started, it was over. He stood there, panting.

"Joey?" Somebody nearby ventured. He lifted his head and glanced around. Duke was staring at him wearily. Joey held his gaze, then felt himself fall forwards, and threw his hands out to catch himself.

'That's funny. I don't feel dizzy.' He thought in confusion, 'Just off-balance.' Confusion gave way to shock when he saw his hands. Check that, paws. Two massive, powerful, paws were braced against the ground in front of him. Hesitantly, he turned around to see the rest of his body. Long, shaggy, blonde fur covered rippling muscles, tail moving slightly at the end of it all. Joey blinked. The tail twitched. "You gotta be kidding me." He muttered.

"Joey?" He looked back at Duke. "You sane?"

Joey paused. " . . . Blunt much?"

Duke grinned. "Yep. You're Joey."

"So what's this big plan of yours?"

"I haven't seen any guards around except for Kemo, the werewolf that bit you, so when they bring Yugi back, they'll probably leave us alone."

"Yeah? That doesn't change the fact that we still can't go anywhere."

"Tristan taught me how to pick locks." Duke flexed his fingers, claws glistening in the dim light. "You can't see because the roof of your cage is in the way, but there is a skylight almost directly above us to let in the light. But the ceiling is so high that Yugi won't be able to reach it, so one of us will grab him and the other will bust a way out. From there, we can get our bearings and find our way back."

"Good idea, but maybe we should wait for nightfall, first."

Duke shook his head solemnly. "We don't have that kind of time, Joey. Remember, Yugi's a neko. He needs to get back to Yami as soon as possible."

Joey frowned. He'd completely forgotten about that. "Wait." Something had just occurred to him. "Yami left Yugi home alone to go to school and work. And even after school let out, he'd go to work, or the store. Why didn't anything happen to Yugi then?"

"Because Yami's essence was everywhere, and Yugi could draw on that temporarily. Yami's never been here, so-"

 _*Clang*_

Duke broke off when he heard the door open and heavy footsteps head their way. Kemo, the werewolf, walked into view and headed for Yugi's cage. They watched as he opened the door and unceremoniously dropped a small bundle on the floor. Joey and Duke simultaneously felt their hearts stop when they realized it was Yugi. He lay where he'd fallen, taking quick, shallow breaths.

"It'd be wise to learn to obey Master Pegasus." Kemo growled before he walked away.

Yugi struggled to raise himself up on one arm. "He is no longer my Master," He spat the word out harshly, "And I am no longer his property."

"Say whatever you want." Kemo called back, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, Yugi groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, laying back down.

Duke bolted over and began fiddling with his lock, while Joey tried to get the neko's attention. "Yug'? Yugi, speak to me! C'mon, pal, we're gonna get you out of here."

 _*Click*_

Duke's door swung open and he quickly undid Joey's, who bounded across the aisle. "Yugi?" Yugi barley gave any sign that he'd heard him, other than a faint ear twitch in his direction. Joey could smell blood, see it soaked through his shirt, and winced in sympathy when he saw the when he saw the wounds on his wrists. His cheek was red and beginning to bruise, while his tail was completely limp. Duke pulled the door open for Joey, who entered and knelt down by him.

"Yugi, we're going to get you back to Yami, alright?" He rolled Yugi onto his back, but before he could pick him up, his eyes opened. It was obvious that he was a bit out of it, but the instant Yugi saw the giant werewolf looming over him, he freaked. He scrambled to his hands and knees, hissing, ears flattened and tail twitching.

"Joey, have you got him yet?" Duke called from up above, just before a loud crash was heard and glass rained down around their cages. "We've got to get going!"

Joey looked back at Yugi. He was unsteady and swaying slightly, but trying his hardest to look intimidating. "Duke, I need some help. He's terrified of me."

The vampire landed and walked past Joey, approaching their friend cautiously. "Easy, Yugi. It's me." He held his hands out in front of him. "Joey, could you back up a bit? I don't think it's you he's scared of exactly, but he's never really had any good experiences with werewolves."

Joey walked out of the cage and watched as Duke moved to gather the neko boy in his arms. His heart clenched when Yugi all but slumped into the vampire's embrace.

"Let's get out of here." Duke said as he exited the cage and released his wings. They were dark grey and stretched over his bones in a thin layer of rough skin. Joey could see each trail of bones, all ending in a wicked-looking claw. They beat downward powerfully when Duke leapt into the air and carried him gracefully up and onto the roof.

Joey looked around for a way for him to get out. The roof was much too high for him to simply jump, even from atop a cage. But wait. There was a catwalk within jumping distance, and from there the skylight would be easy access.

Joey crouched, eyed his target, and pounced, landing on the roof of Yugi's cage. Then he turned and did the same to reach the catwalk. One last jump, and he tasted freedom. He landed on the roof and spun around to where Duke was setting Yugi down, leaning him back against an air vent.

"I think he'll be fine. It's mostly just the separation taking its toll." Joey watched as the vampire removed his jacket and laid it over Yugi.

Yugi stirred and opened his eyes slightly. "Duke?" he murmured.

"Right here, kiddo."

"Where's Yami?"

Joey shifted back to human, bracing himself against the pain, and walked over. "We don't know, Yug'. Hopefully back at the apartment-" The werewolf broke off as Yugi shook his head, sitting up a bit straighter.

"No, I can sense him. He's here, somewhere."

Duke and Joey looked at each other. "What the heck is Yami doing here?"

Before Duke could respond, however, a gunshot rang out from inside. This was followed by shouts and more gunfire. The vampire ran back to the skylight and stared back down, incredulous. _"Fucking humans!"_ He roared, then flew down into the fray.

Joey shifted back to werewolf, but before he could join, he heard a grunt of pain. He turned to see Yugi, standing on shaky legs, leaning heavily on the air vent. "Oh, no, you don't, Yug'. You're staying here."

"He's m-my Master." Yugi responded defiantly.

"What good are you going to do when you can barely stand?" Joey countered. Yugi just glared and glanced away. "Look, Yugi. I'm going to have to trust you up here alone. The guys down there need all the help they can get, and I can't help them if I'm worrying about you. So if you really want to protect Yami, then stay up here." The gunfire continued, but much more sporadically.

Yugi sighed and lowered himself stiffly back to a seated position. "Go." He muttered.

Joey nodded and leapt back through the skylight.

A block away, a werewolf lifted its nose to the wind and inhaled. 'There he is again.' It thought, and then began following the scent to the warehouse district.

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As I said, the person who is my one hundredth reviewer (whenever that may be) will get to request a one shot from me! I have never written a request before, so I am excited to see what I will be writing. I would also like to add, that the only thing I will be unwilling to write will be a lemon. Sorry.

Please tell me how I did with this chapter and do you think that Duke and Yugi will ever meet back up with their friend 'Silent' again? If so, who do you think he is?

NEXT CHAPTER: It's up to Duke to be the hero, and Yugi and Joey share a fluffy scene! I'll see you there!


	14. Chapter 14

88 reviews! I never thought that this story would be so popular! Only 12 more to go before we find out who gets the 100th review!

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 _*Thud*_

I spun and pointed my gun at the new arrival, barley managing to stop before I shot Joey. He bolted over to us and crouched down behind the cage Duke had overturned for protection.

"What the heck are you three doing here? _And with my guns?_ " He realized what we were holding and his eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry, Joey," Tea said, peeking around the corner, trying to locate the werewolf guard we had accidently alerted. The apparently armed werewolf guard. "It was my idea."

"Regardless," Duke spoke up, "We need to get everyone out of here." He grabbed Tea around the waist and looked at me. "Yami, get on Joey's back." I obeyed and grasped the blonde fur. From my new vantage point, I was able to look down and see Tristan's head. "I'll be right back for you, alright?" Duke turned to him. He nodded.

"You'll be exposed as soon as you try to make it out. I'll cover you." Tristan saluted and, before we could stop him, bolted in the direction of the guard.

"Tristan!" Duke shouted, and then growled. "Let's go. We need to hurry." He leapt into the air and soared out the skylight.

I had just enough time to brace myself before Joey followed, much less gracefully. I was lying flat on his back, arms clutching him as tight as possible, fisting clumps of fur. Wind and gravity tried to pull me off and I squeezed my eyes shut. All I was aware of was the loud pounding in my ears, and my heart shaking my chest with each beat.

"Yami," I pressed closer to him, holding tighter. "Yami, get off. I can't breathe." I opened one eye. We were outside. The early morning sun lit the rooftop we were on. I opened the other eye and sat up. Yes, this was defiantly outside. I heaved a sigh of relief and slid off of Joey's back.

"Tha-thank you." I managed. He nodded, and then glanced behind me pointedly. I turned and gasped. Yugi was seated against an air vent, huddled under Duke's coat. "Yugi." I hurried over and bent down in front of him. He avoided my eyes. I gently turned his head so he was facing me, wincing in sympathy when I saw his cheek. "Are you alright?" His ears twitched.

"I-I'm fine." He shook. I was about to respond when a gunshot rang out from inside, then another, followed by a scream.

 _"No!"_ I spun just in time to see Duke and Joey jump once again to the ground below. I quickly wrapped my arm around Yugi's back, my other arm under his knees, avoiding his tail, and lifted him. He wrapped his arms around my chest and huddled closer, still under the jacket. I ran over to Tea. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," she kept her gaze down, trying to see through the inky blackness below. Sounds of a fight broke out. "I think somethings happened to Tristan."

We could hear snarls, growls, shouts, swears, even teeth gnashing together, but we couldn't see anything. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, followed by Joey's enraged shout of, "Get back here, ya coward!" He was panting hard, and snarling. At that moment, he actually sounded deadly.

"What's going on down there?" Tea called. No response. "Guys? Answer me!"

Suddenly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Someone was staring at me. I whirled around. Nobody was there. Tea continued to call down, but I was no longer paying attention. _Something_ had been watching me. I was certain of that. Yugi glanced at me curiously as I eyed the surrounding rooftops suspiciously.

"Yami? What's-"

 _"Oh, my God!"_ Tea exclaimed.

I spun around; expecting an attack, but what I saw nearly stopped my heart. Duke was landing by Tea, and in his arms was a very pale, very bloody, Tristan.

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Joey paced the living room like a caged animal. With little option but to find a place to hide, and with Tristan's apartment wreaked and several miles away, we had decided to go to the next best place. My place. Duke, Tristan, and Tea were currently upstairs in my bedroom. Joey, Yugi and I were downstairs.

"Joey, sit down. We're all worried, but wearing a hole in the carpet won't help anyone." Joey gave no sign that he'd heard me. He just kept pacing, occasionally glancing upstairs. "Joey," I grabbed his hand as he walked by. The next thing I knew, I couldn't breathe. In the course of the instant it had taken to gain Joey's attention, he'd shifted partway, lifting me off the couch by my throat. I clawed at his paws, but they didn't budge. He was snarling, barely an inch from my face, eyes that of a killer. My heart was trying to pound out of my chest and the edges of my vision blurred.

Suddenly, Yugi was on Joey's back, wrapping his arms around his neck and sinking his teeth into one of his furry blonde ears. I saw Joey wince in pain, and then he seemed to realize what he was doing. His eyes widened and he dropped me, shakily taking a step back.

I lay on the carpet, choking and gasping for air, dimly aware of a small hand rubbing circles on my back. After a minute, I was able to breathe normally again, and looked up. Yugi had positioned himself next to me, directly between me and Joey. Joey. He looked horrified as he stared at his shaking hands.

"Y-Yami," he stuttered.

" _This_ is why you need to control you emotions." Duke stood at the bottom of the stairwell, blood still visible on his shirt. I rose and sat back on the couch, Yugi following. "Your wolf instincts will take control of you if you let them." As Duke spoke, I felt Yugi lay his head on my shoulder. He was still getting over our being separated for so long. And to tell the truth, I was feeling pretty tired as well.

Silence filled the living room, and nobody voiced what we all wanted to know. Finally, Joey spoke up. "How is he?"

Duke looked away. "Not good. That's why I came down to talk to you. There's only one way we could think of to save him, but I need to know if he'd be alright with it."

Joey stared, unbelieving. "Yeah." He managed, "Yeah. Do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. We've talked it over before. I'm sure. Just do it."

Duke closed his eyes and nodded. Silently, he returned upstairs.

"Joey? What was he talking about?" I asked. Joey just shook his head. Since he didn't seem to want to talk, I turned my attention back to Yugi. He leaned against my shoulder, eyelids apparently heavy. Gently, I moved my arm behind his back and laid him down so that his head was on my leg. He protested briefly, but a soft, "Go to sleep, Yugi." Quieted him down. He dropped off almost instantly.

"Are you both alright?" Joey asked after a minute.

I looked down at Yugi. No wounds that I could see. "We're fine." I told him. His expression was a mix of relief and guilt. We heard the bedroom door open and close, and then footsteps on the stairs. Tea appeared in the doorway.

"Duke says to not go up there no matter what." She wearily reported.

Joey nodded, seemingly deep in thought, then he looked at me. "Yami. Do you know where the butcher shop is?"

"Yeah, right by the supermarket. Why?"

Tea and Joey glanced at each other. "You need to go buy some raw meat."

"Raw meat? What for?"

"Just trust me. We'll need it." Joey didn't look happy at all. That's when it hit me.

"Duke's turning him, isn't he?" I asked. He didn't speak. He just nodded.

"I would send Tea, but she's needed here in case something happens."

"Yeah. And Joey's still not fully, well, in control of his emotions yet."

"Alright. But, what about Yugi?" I looked down, gently rubbing his ear.

"He'll be fine. Your presence is all over this place. And you'll be gone ten minutes, tops. Besides, I'll look after him for you." Joey volunteered.

I hesitated briefly, and then nodded. I had no idea what was going to happen once Tristan was turned, but I'd heard that vampires needed blood. I didn't want to risk him going after anyone, so I stood up, carefully placing a pillow under Yugi's head, and checked my pocket for my wallet. "How much should I get?"

Joey dug in his pocket and handed me a twenty dollar bill. "As much as this will buy. That should be enough."

"Okay." I glanced back at Yugi. The bruise on his cheek had grown darker.

"I'll take care of him, Yami. Just go."

I nodded. "I'll be right back." I said softly. Yugi's ear twitched faintly.

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Joey could tell when Yami had gotten too far away for Yugi to sense him. He could tell because Yugi started to wake up. "Mm. Yami?" He asked, his voice still thick with sleep. Joey watched as he blinked blearily and looked around.

"He'll be back in just a minute, Yug'. Go back to sleep." He tried, but to no avail. Yugi shot up, eyes wide.

"B-back? From where? Where'd he go?"

"He just had to go into town for a minute. Tristan's getting turned, and a new vampire's going to need blood. He'll be back before you know it."

Yugi looked out the window, then settled back down on the couch, but refused to close his eyes. Tea excused herself to the kitchen, leaving the two alone in silence.

"Hey, Joey?" Yugi whispered. Joey glanced at him.

"Yeah?" he responded, keeping his voice level with the neko's.

"Back . . . in Boss's warehouse," he trailed off, refusing to look up, "I'm really sorry. I wasn't afraid of you. Well, I mean, I _was_ , but not of you, exactly." He sighed and his eyes misted. "I thought you were Atem for a moment. I thought I was back then."

Joey blinked in surprise. He remembered what Duke had told him, about Atem being Yugi's best friend, then killing him the night he'd first turned. Yugi had thought he was going to die. Again. "Yugi," he began, and then stopped. What does someone say to that? Instead, he spotted Yami's jacket on the table and picked it up. Gently, he draped it over Yugi's shoulders, then sat on the couch and pulled him into his lap.

Yugi didn't move, just sat in confusion, curled up in Joey's lap, leaning against his chest. "You're here now, Yug'. Boss isn't going to lock you up, and neither will Yami. And I'll make sure that Atem never comes near you again."

Silence. For a moment, Joey was afraid he'd done something wrong. After all, Yugi was skittish around werewolves. It probably wasn't too comfortable to be sitting in one's lap.

Just as he was about to move, to place Yugi back on the couch and leave, he felt the small body relax. "Thank you, Joey. For everything. And I'm sorry you got turned into a werewolf. And that you were kidnapped."

"Don't apologize, Yug'. It isn't your fault. Not to mention, you're my friend. I'm not about to let any of those freaks get a hold of you."

"Thank you, Joey."

"Anytime, pal."

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I was on my way back home, a plastic bag hanging from my wrist, when it happened. I was just passing an alley, admittedly not paying as much attention to my surroundings as I should have been, or else I would have heard the sounds of a fight. A sudden crash made me turn my head.

A rather large man had pinned someone to the ground, and was now holding them there. I couldn't see what the person looked like, though, as there was a dumpster in my way, but I could tell that they were much smaller then their opponent.

"I told you to give me your wallet, runt. Now you got one last chance to hand it over before I really get rough."

He hadn't seen me yet, so I stepped back behind the wall and pulled out my cell to call the police. I had dialed the first two digits when the building I was hiding behind shook and a loud thud echoed through the empty street. I looked around the corner, and froze, shocked. Ryou stood in the middle of the alley, fist still raised, facing a hole in the wall where the man used to be. I gasped and he whirled around, paling when he saw me.

"Ryou?"

"Yami . . . I don't suppose there's anyway you can pretend you didn't see that?" he asked nervously.

I sighed and shook my head. "You know, Ryou, you were the last normal person in my life."

He blinked and straightened up, confusion clear on his face. "What?"

"Let's just say that its been a crazy past few weeks."

"You-you know about us? How?"

"Do you remember my cat?"

"You mean you have a neko?!" he stared, wide-eyed.

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Remember, 100th reviewer gets to request a one-shot!

NEXT CHAPTER: Does it count as keeping secrets if she didn't even know?


	15. Chapter 15

Only seven more reviews to go! Who will be the winner? And, just as I did with the 50 review mark, if you review as a guest, I will go with the next person with an account to review. Please keep that in mind. On with the story!

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I opened the door and held it for Ryou, before locking it and leading him into the living room. Joey and Yugi were curled up together on the couch and I could hear Tea in the kitchen.

"Ahem." Three pairs of eyes turned to me, and then grew large. "Don't freak out. He's-"

 _"Silent!"_ Yugi leapt off Joey and tackled Ryou in a big hug. Ryou, meanwhile, stood in shock for a moment, before his eyes bugged out with recognition. "N-Neko? Is that really you?" he was incredulous. And then he turned to me. "Wait. Then, that means, the kitten that saved your life, your neko, was _this_ neko?"

"My name's Yugi, now. Yugi Sennen. And Yami isn't anything like Boss."

Ryou laughed. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Hey, guys. Could you keep it down a bit? Tristan's asleep." Duke came wearily down the stairs.

"Duke?" Ryou gasped.

"Silent? What are you doing here?"

"Alright, wait. Hold up. Could someone please explain to me what's going on?" Joey spoke up from the couch. I had to admit, I was curious as well.

"Do you remember me telling you about the Pegasus Yugi and I were friends with years ago?" Duke asked, and Joey nodded. "This is him. We used to call him 'Silent', but," he turned to Ryou, "I guess you're going by something else now, right?"

"Ryou. My name is Ryou."

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Tristan remained locked in my room for the next day and a half. Apparently, changing into a vampire wasn't easy or pleasant. Duke divided his time between Tristan and catching up with Ryou.

Finally, after almost two days, Duke came downstairs leading our tall friend. "He's still recovering from the process a bit, but the blood lust phase has passed so if he drinks your blood, it doesn't mean his instincts have taken over. You probably just pissed him off." As soon as he said that, Joey went from reaching to hug him, to hiding behind Tea.

"Why, Joey. Your bravery astounds me." She deadpanned. Everyone had been tense since the events of a few nights ago. It felt good to laugh. Even if it was just a little.

"Ahem." We all turned to Ryou. "Look. I'm sorry to have to break this up, but I have something to say, and I wanted to wait until everyone was here." Well, _that_ didn't sound ominous.

"What do you mean? What do you have to tell us?"

He took a breath, and then began. "I am one third of a kind of search and rescue team. We seek out mythological creatures and get them to safety. I met Bakura, one of my partners, shortly after what happened with Maximillion Pegasus and have been working with them ever since."

"What do you mean by 'search and rescue'? Is what happened with Bos- Pegasus, common?" Yugi asked, hugging my arm.

"Unfortunately, yes. Most people are still unaware of our existence, outside of television and such, that is. But there are a growing number of people who _do_ know. It's them we need to be careful of. My job is to get you to our safe zone."

"Wait. So you're just going to take them and, what? They'll never be able to come back?" Tea looked scared, and was trying her best to fight back tears. That's when I realized. Tea and I were the only humans in our group, but I was bonded to Yugi. I had to go with. She was going to be left alone. "Does this mean . . . we have to say good bye?" Judging by the expressions of my friend's faces, especially Joey's and Tristan's, they had come to the same conclusion.

"Actually, no. you need to come with, Miss Mazaki."

"What? But I thought . . ."

"You live alone, correct?"

"Yes?"

"And you were adopted?"

" . . . Yeah? Where are you going with this?"

Ryou glanced at Yugi, who cleared his throat. "Tea, you're an Ancient."

"I-I'm what? I'm sixteen, not-"

"'Ancient' is a term for the oldest species of mythicals. Unicorns, dragons, mermaids, you get it." Duke took over. "Other mythicals can sense Ancients, and judging by the readings I'm getting, you aren't very far from finding out which you are."

Everyone stared, shocked. Until Joey came to a sudden realization, that is. "Wait. Then that feeling I get when I look at you . . ."

"You too?" Tristan exclaimed. While they stared at each other in horror, Duke began to laugh.

"No, that's not love you're feeling. It's just your senses alerting you to the presence of an Ancient."

"Oh, thank God!" they were in sync, both in speaking and in realizing the glare they were being given. "Um, no offence, Tea. I mean, I _do_ love you, but not like, you know, _that_. You're kind of more like a sister and I _really_ don't want to have feeling like that for you." Joey was blushing like crazy by the time he finished.

"Yeah. Same. And I think I'm going to go find a rock to hide under now." They both left the room in a hurry.

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"Ryou." The albino stopped and turned at his name.

"Tea?" He had been heading back to his cabin to get things ready for the group to leave. "What are you doing out here?"

The girl suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable, as if she hadn't even really considered that herself. "How did you know I was adopted?"

He smiled softly. "Ancients aren't like most creatures, mythical or not. With the amount of times that they have nearly gone extinct, they developed a strange way to raise their young. They leave them where they will be found by humans, and from there, must find their own way in the world. It's pretty much keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That's also how they ensure their lines will remain strong, as many don't survive being abandoned." They both remained silent; Tea letting the words sink in, and Ryou out of respect.

"How," she paused to clear his throat, "how did you know I live alone?"

"That's a little harder to explain. Ancient young, somehow or another, always end up on their own anywhere from one to five years before their transformation. It's thought that there may be some subliminal instinct that makes humans . . . well, for lack of a better term, leave. To be honest, not much is known about that."

Tea nodded, seeming to understand. "I guess that would make sense if they didn't want their existence to be known. But, what about Joey and Tristan? They didn't . . . well; I guess they kind of _did_ avoid me when they were having that one fight."

Ryou shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry. I can't help you there. Maybe they're just really good friends." They both smiled at that. "You should be getting back. It's going to be pretty dark soon."

"Yeah. Thanks for your help."

"No problem."

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"Is everybody sure they have everything?" Ryou asked two days later. We had all needed time to prepare, but also wanted to head out as soon as possible. It was still unknown as to why Pegasus and Kemo had been unseen for the whole time, but the sooner we left, the better we'd feel.

Everybody gave their affirmative, and we headed for Ryou's cabin. It was about four miles away and a short walk into the woods, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following us.

"Yami? What is it?" Yugi asked when I turned around for the fourth time. I just shook my head and continued on. There was nothing there. Not even any movement in the bushes.

"Here we are." Ryou pulled us back to why we were out there in the first place. "Bakura's got everything else ready. Maps, weapons, some extra food and blankets," as he spoke, he opened the door. The cabin was tiny and had obviously been abandoned for many years, as it was covered in moss and vines. But it appeared as though it was still sturdy.

"Alright, listen up!" A taller, more dangerous version of Ryou stepped out, "Anyone who falls behind gets left behind. I will not wait for anyone. You will each be in charge of finding your own food; this is the wild, and that means survival of the fittest." He marched up and down in front of us like a drill sergeant, stomping his combat boots for effect. "And lastly," he turned to face us, shoulders back and head high, "if at any point we should find ourselves unable to locate any food, I get dibs on the cat." He pointed to Yugi, and then promptly turned to Ryou.

"What?" Yugi stiffened; eyes wide.

"H-hey. You can't just-" I was cut off by Ryou.

"He was kidding, you two. Don't worry." We all glanced at each other. This was going to be an interesting trip.

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"Hey, Yami?"

I groaned and sat up. We had been walking all day and had only just stopped for the night. "What's up, Yugi?"

He looked down, ears twitching nervously. In the center of the clearing, Joey and Tristan were building a campfire while Bakura and Duke looked over the maps and Ryou helped Tea set up sleeping bags. "Please don't take this the wrong way, o-or think that . . ." he broke off and bit his lip.

"Yugi? What's wrong?"

"It's just . . . I was thinking, and, well, I've actually been wondering this for a while," he took a breath, then blurted it out. "Why weren't you like my other Masters?"

"What do you mean?" I was confused at this point.

"I-I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but, I mean, you told me I could be my own person. I just showed up out of nowhere and told you I served you. That I am bound to you and-"

I cut him off. "That's why I told you I wasn't your Master. Yeah, we're bound to each other, I understand that, but you should be your own Master. Life is something that's sacred. You need to live it for yourself. And . . ." I paused. "Ever . . . ever since you came into my life, I've actually been living my life. I have friends now. People I'm living my life for. I'm not alone anymore, thanks to you. I'd never . . . you have your own life to live, your own destiny, if I can say that without sounding too corny. And so do I. So do all of us, actually. We're all just looking for the next step in our lives. You're no different. Back when we first met, in answer to you question, there are too many reasons. But I think the main one was that I just wanted a friend." He stared at me for a moment, then smiled and curled himself into my lap, head tucked under my chin.

Joey walked up a few minutes later, handing each of us a can of fruit. "How are you two holding up?"

I breathed out a short laugh. "I think we'll survive. Its just been a while since I've gone on such a long hike."

Well, don't worry. Tristan says that tomorrow, we'll come to a river at around lunchtime. We'll take a break and catch some fish."

"Really?!" Yugi perked up, nearly bouncing in excitement.

"Yeah." Joey laughed. "After that, our pace will slow down a bit. Ryou and Bakura just want to get as much space between us and Pegasus as possible. Oh, and Bakura will be keeping watch tonight, so try to get some sleep, alright?"

I smiled. "Sure. Thanks, Joey." I stood up, Yugi jumping off me quickly, and walked over to the fire. Everyone else had claimed a sleeping bag, so I crawled into the last available one and closed my eyes. I felt Yugi, who must have shifted into full cat form, press himself against my chest. Even though I smiled as I felt him drop off, and I knew that tomorrow would be easier than today, my last thought before I fell asleep was, 'I wish that I could stop feeling like someone's watching me. Its getting creepy.'

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The werewolf stretched his entire body, and then turned a few circles before settling down, curled into a ball. He was resting downwind of the group, almost a quarter mile away. He didn't want them to know of him just yet. Didn't want to scare them off. He raised his large head and gazed at the moon, suddenly missing the days when life was simple. After a moment, though, he sighed and lowered his head back to his paws. Those days were long gone. And they weren't coming back anytime soon. All he could do now was keep trying to move forward. And, with the arrival of that neko, he had found that chance. All he had to do was make sure he didn't lose his scent. He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly, drifting off at last. Morning would come, and he would be there to see it.

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I know many of you think that the werewolf is Atem, but how many think that he is Kemo? Don't forget to review! Only seven more to go! XD

NEXT CHAPTER: Honestly, Yami, haven't you learned your lesson? Neko's should never be left alone.


	16. Chapter 16

The first person to review with an account will be able to request a one-shot! Please enjoy! If the first person doesn't want to request anything, the contest is canceled. Please enjoy! And next chapter, we will get to see the results of the 50th reviewer contest.

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It was a crystal clear, blue-sky day. The sun was shining, making beautiful reflections on the river's surface and the fish swam about without a care in the world. Until, that is, a large, dark shape sprung into view.

 _*Splash!*_

"Ah, damn! Get back here! Stupid fish, I'm hungry!" Joey splashed around, trying out his werewolf forms hunting instincts. So far, he'd caught two rocks, a stick, and Tristan's shoe.

"Joey, you're never going to catch anything that way." Yugi called from the bank. Everyone else had moved farther upstream to try to catch their own food, away from Hurricane Joey.

"Oh, yeah? And I suppose you could do bett-" he broke off and stared at the fish Yugi was just finishing off. "How-how did you . . ."

The neko grinned slyly. "I didn't tell it I was hungry."

"Can you give me a hand? Please, pal. I'm starving." Joey was not above begging when it came to food.

Yugi stood and stepped smoothly into the water. "You need to calm down and be still." Joey stood, copying him, about ten feet away. The water came up to the bottom of Yugi's ribcage, running by steadily. "Put your paws in the water, like so," Yugi demonstrated. Joey did so. "Now keep in mind- _Oh!_ " Yugi had seen a large shape swim by him, and, without warning, sunk his claws into its sides. Joey stared in shock as the neko was suddenly pulled under the water.

 _"Yug-"_ He was cut off as a very angry vampire stood abruptly out of the water.

"As I was saying," Yugi shook his head and coughed, detaching his claws when he saw Duke's expression, "don't grab anything that's bigger than you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Although, I don't think I have to worry about that as much as you do." He grinned.

"Ha ha. Just don't let the fish know you're there until you grab them." Yugi deadpanned.

"Alright. Let me give it a try." Joey began looking around for a good target. Duke rolled his eyes and turned to Yugi.

"I just wanted to let you know that we'll be moving a little further upstream. Apparently, there's some fruit trees in the area. When you're done . . ." he glanced at the werewolf, "making sure he doesn't starve; catch up with us, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Duke." Yugi responded. The vampire spread his wings and lifted off the ground, flying back up to the main group.

Yugi sat down to watch his friend continue to be outrun by fish. The sun, the river, the (mostly) silent noises of the forest, not to mention his full stomach, combined and he curled on his patch of grass, sound asleep within moments.

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Joey, finally having caught a fish (among other things, like another rock, three sticks, and some kind of weird water izard thing that he didn't even want to try), climbed back on land and shook the water from his fur. He spotted Yugi, curled up in the sun, snoozing, and couldn't help but yawn. Padding over, he was just about to join him when a huge, dark shape plowed into him, knocking him away from his friend.

Suddenly no longer tired, Joey snarled and lunged back, sinking his teeth into the long fur, clenching his jaw as tight as he could. He tasted coppery blood enter his mouth right before his opponent twisted out of his grip. He could hear someone screaming, but was too preoccupied with the beast that had now managed to get him on his back to pay any attention. His blood ran cold, and terror seized his heart as he felt powerful jaws, filled with sharp teeth close around his throat. Absurdly, the only thought in his mind was, 'Suddenly, I know how a fish feels.'

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I was in the middle of putting a few apples in my backpack for later, when Bakura suddenly snapped to attention.

"'Kura? What is-" Ryou broke off as Duke, apparently sensing something too, whirled around to stare downstream.

"I smell blood."

Bakura looked at him. "And I just heard a fight break out."

We all looked at each other for a moment. "Bakura! You go ahead! Do what you can!" Ryou ordered in a tone I'd never have expected. Bakura nodded and bolted straight for the nearest tree. The instant his foot hit the shadow; it was like he'd just stepped through something. He was gone. "Bakura's a shadow elf. He can use shadows as doorways. Now let's go! We need to hurry!" Ryou filled us in as we all took off downstream.

I was berating myself the entire time. I had left Yugi alone, well, not exactly alone, he had Joey, but the grove of fruit trees was around a bend in the river- wait. My eyes widened and I began to run even faster. Yugi was alone with Joey. Had Joey lost control again? Had he gone after Yugi?

By the time we reached the bend, I was beginning to hear sounds of a fight. Rounding the last tree, I was able to see what was going on. Bakura was on the shore of the river, hands extended and encased in twin shadows. They were aimed at a large, black creature, another werewolf, in the middle of the water. He was thrashing madly, trying to stand, but repeatedly falling over. When I looked closer, I saw why. The shadows around Bakura's hands also seemed to be wrapped around the animal's legs and body.

Behind Bakura, Joey was crouched on the ground, gasping, while Yugi was shakily trying to make sure he was alright. I ran over to them, Tea right behind me, while Ryou, Tristan, and Duke went to help Bakura.

"Yugi!" I landed on my knees and quickly began checking him over, looking for any injury. "Are you alright?"

Still appearing to be a bit shell shocked, he nodded. "Y-yeah. Im fine, but he went after Joey." I turned and saw Joey, now recovered, placing himself between us and the threat.

"Stop struggling!" Bakura demanded. The beasts thrashing had died down, but he was still trying to stand up out of the shallows.

After a minute, Bakura called off his magical shadows and the werewolf moved to the shore. Everyone was tense, ready for a fight, but receiving none. He just sat there, panting and eyeing the vampires, shadow elf, and fellow werewolf wearily.

"Who are you and why did you attack them?" Tristan demanded, nodding his head stiffly at Yugi and Joey.

The werewolf looked over and, upon seeing Yugi behind Joey, rose up and snarled. _"Get away from him."_

Ryou and Duke gasped, and Yugi flinched. "A-Atem?"

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The werewolf, Atem, made sure to keep a respectful distance. He had shifted back to his human form, and I was shocked at how much we looked alike. We were now seated in the clearing by the river, trying to decide on what to do next.

If his story was to be believed, he had been following Yugi's scent from back at the warehouses. He had seen Yugi fall asleep on the shore, but jumped to the wrong conclusion when Joey had approached him. He'd thought that Joey was about to attack Yugi.

We all looked up as tea stood and picked up her backpack. "Tea?" Duke questioned.

"Can you and Tristan come with me please?"

"Yeah, but why?"

She paused, and then nodded his head towards Atem. He was seated against the trunk of a large pine tree, gazing at the river. "I just want to make sure he's alright. Could you come with me in case . . . something happens?"

They looked at each other. "Yeah. We'll come." The three of them walked down to him, and we watched as she spoke to him for a moment. He wearily eyed the two vampires, then exposed the back of his neck to her. She opened her supplies and got to work.

"What do we do now?" Bakura pulled out attention back. "He's a rouge werewolf, and, from what Ryou tells me, a typically good guy."

"Are you saying you want to take him with? He attacked me!" Joey was still between us and Atem.

"Yeah, but think about it. He attacked you because he thought you were going to attack Yugi. And you remember what it was like when you were bitten; going crazy and all. Imagine if you had actually caught someone. I think he should come with." Bakura fell silent, allowing us to think. I looked down at Yugi.

He had shrunk down to full kitten form, and was now huddled under my jacket. "Yugi? What do you think?"

He peeked his head out. "I-I think he should come along. We're heading for a safe zone, and he should have a safe place to go, too. If he'd known we were friends, Joey, he'd never have gone after you. But the choice is yours, since he did."

Joey was silent for a moment, and then glanced over at the person in question. "We've got him outmatched. If he proves to be not as righteous as you all seem to believe, we can get rid of him. Besides, I'm not about to deny someone sanctuary."

We glanced at each other. "Are we all in agreement? Atem's coming with?"

"So long as he keeps away from Yugi. Forgive me for sounding rude," Joey held up his paw, "but the fact remains that, good guy or not, he he's got several deaths on his hands. Yugi's included. I may be alright with the guy coming with us for sanctuary, but that doesn't mean I feel safe around him." Yugi averted his eyes and huddled under my jacket.

"I'll go tell him." Bakura stood up, brushed himself off, and walked down. "You're coming with us. Try anything, and we'll have a repeat of your little swim. Deal? Good. Okay." He spun on his heel and began walking away, not even giving the other a chance to respond.

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We managed to make it another ten miles, according to Ryou's maps, before stopping to set up camp. Atem had made sure to maintain at least a ten foot gap the entire way. A few times, I caught him glancing at Yugi, an unreadable expression on his face, but he always looked away quickly when he realized I was watching.

Yugi, meanwhile, had taken to clinging to my arm, placing me between him and the newest addition to our group. I knew that he'd only voted for him to come along because of their past together, but that didn't change the fact, or, I should say, memory that of dying at his hands. Whether Atem had been sane at the time or not wasn't part of the issue. I couldn't imagine what that must have been like; having to watch one of your best friends turn into a blood thirsty creature . . . and try to kill you . . . and your friends . . . right. Yeah. Joey. I'd almost forgotten that. But still, he hadn't succeeded, nor had we had nowhere to run. It wasn't the same. Not to mention that we'd met right back up with Joey. The last Duke, Ryou, and Yugi had seen of Atem, though, had been claws, teeth, and blood.

Honestly, Yugi's willingness to allow Atem to come along was the bravest thing I'd seen in a long time. In fact, now that I thought about it, a lot of things I'd seen Yugi do were incredibly brave.. attacking that snake when we'd first met, giving me he benefit of the doubt that I wouldn't turn out like his other Masters, getting me to talk to Joey . . . wow. I'd never noticed before, but that little neko was probably one of the bravest people I'd ever met.

"Yami," I blinked, just realizing that I'd been spacing off, staring at the campfire.

"Yeah, Joey? Whats up?" I ran a hand over the small, furry body sleeping on my lap.

"Could I have one of the apples from your pack? I forgot to stock up back at the river." He gave me a sheepish look.

"Yeah, sure." I grabbed one out and handed it over, but Joey didn't take it. I looked up at him. "Joey?"

"Shh." He held up a hand to quiet me, and then scanned the woods.

I groaned internally and woke Yugi. He morphed to neko form when he saw how tense Joey was, the others catching on by now, too. 'What now?' I thought.

"Guys, we got company." Joey snarled.

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Next chapter, we get to see the results of the 50th reviewer contest! What do you think will happen? Will Yugi and Atem be able to move past the past? Please tell me what you thought of Atem's entrance!

NEXT CHAPTER: Yugi has a kick butt moment, and Yami realizes that giving up is never an option.


	17. Chapter 17

Guest- This story is an AU, so that means that it is in an alternate universe. Duelist Kingdom never happened. I'm glad you are enjoying this story so far!

I would just like to tell you beforehand, that this fic contains no OC's. I will remind everyone at the end who has shown up, b/c I don't want to give anything away right now. Oh, and tell me what you think of Joey's plan. You'll see what I mean. Please review! And enjoy!

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I scanned the dark tree line, not seeing anything. Yugi was crouched in front of me, ears twitching, but remaining otherwise still.

"Yami." Bakura muttered from beside me, also scanning the area. He pressed a small pistol into my hand. "Be ready."

"Oh, you had better be ready." A deep, commanding voice sounded from right in front of us. We all stiffened in anticipation.

A twig snapped. Yugi bristled. A shadow moved. Tristan zeroed in on it. A face appeared. Joey gasped and took a step back.

" _W-what the hell?! This-how . . . what the hell are you doing here?"_ Joey snapped, shocked and slightly terrified, if his tone was anything to go by.

A tall, muscular man walked up slowly, exerting his power. He was easily a foot taller than me, bleach- blonde hair slicked back into a ponytail, and needle-sharp eyes that were currently trained on Joey. "Well, well, well. Look who it is. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again."

"What the hell are you doing here, Hirutani?" Joey, still human, snarled.

"I should ask you the same thing, seeing as how you're in my territory."

"Territory? What are you talking about?" Ryou, to everyone's surprise, questioned in his scary, demanding tone. "According to our maps, the closest territory is four miles east! We had an agreement that your pack would remain there!"

"Yeah, well, we're done with that. Seen all there is to see, ya know? We're expanding the turf." The superior grin and mockingly joyful expression dropped from his face, replaced with an angry scowl. "And you're in it."

Ryou scowled back. "No, we're not. Your boundaries are-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Stop. Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" Joey held up both hands, looking bewildered.

"Joey," Ryou had snapped out of his staring contest with the much larger man, and was now eyeing Joey a little apprehensively. "How do you know Hirutani?"

"I used to be in this creep's gang. His second-in-command-" he broke off as Hirutani doubled over in laughter.

"Man, you really _don't_ catch on quick, do you?"

Ryou looked beyond angry. "You took a pet? You know that's been illegal for decades!"

"Yugi," I whispered, "What are they talking about?"

"Do you remember when we first met, and I said that domestic nekos, like me, are bound to people?"

"Yeah?"

"Hirutani smells like a wild. They are bound to their pack."

"You mean we won't stoop so low as to hide behind the weak. Pathetic little domestic. You're a disgrace to you're kind-"

"Don't you _dare_ talk to him like that." We all turned, slightly surprised to see Atem, crimson eyes ablaze, glaring daggers at the wild.

"I may be a disgrace to you," Yugi said evenly, not even sparing a glance at the werewolf, "but then again, I can't remember the last time I cared about what you thought."

"Insolent little-"

"Take one more step, you lying jerk, and you'll lose your foot." Joey snarled, moving between Hirutani and Yugi. "Ryou. What did you mean by 'pet'?"

The albino looked suddenly very uncomfortable. "Wilds, they hate that domestics have evolved to be bound to humans, rather than packs. Over time, they grew to hate humans more and more. It's illegal now," he glared pointedly at the wild, "but some packs would take a human as a pet, the way people would to cats."

Joey looked down, trying to keep his breathing even. Then he glared at Hirutani with a force I'd never suspected he could have. That's when it really sank in for me. Joey may be my friend, but no matter how goofy and carefree he acted, he had been in a gang. He used to get into fights for fun. That was the Joey in front of us now.

"I knew there was a reason I left, you son of a-"

" _Hey!_ Didn't no one ever teach you it's rude to use language like that around children?" another man, slightly wider in muscle, but shorter in stature, than Hirutani materialized out of the shadows. While Hirutani produced an air of power, this new arrival showed nothing of his intentions, save for a sadistic grin.

"This, Joey, is and has always been my second-in-command. Ushio," Hirutani didn't even glance his way, opting instead to lock eyes with our group's blonde werewolf, "I'm done with them."

Instantly, the silence of the night's forest had shattered. A black panther was streaking towards our group from where Ushio had been standing just a moment before.

I reacted automatically, raising the gun in my hand and firing. It just grazed his shoulder before the bark splintered off a tree by Hirutani, but it got the point across. Ushio froze and crouched down, snarling. His Alpha glared, staring straight at me. "Keith! Nezumi!" he barked. Two more figures, one a cocky-looking blonde in an American flag bandana, the other a small, mouse-like boy, emerged from the woods. "You don't want to leave on your own? Fine. We'll take you out. Nobody threatens my pack."

I held his glare with one of my own. "You threatened mine first."

All hell broke loose.

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Hirutani, a massive tiger, lunged at me. Everybody else was occupied with the panther and the cougar that Keith had apparently become, so I was on my own. I turned and ran, unable to get a clear shot in the middle of all that chaos. If I'd have tried, I would have probably shot one of my friends. I turned my head to see how close he was, but the instant I did, a small jaguar came out of nowhere, knocking the gun from my hands. He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Before I could recover, though, two broad paws hit my back. The air was forced out of my chest upon contact to the ground, and, as I lay there gasping; I could hear Hirutani circling me, chuckling softly.

"Your pack doesn't seem to be doing too well against mine." I looked up. Four against nine should have been a shut-in, but he was right. No matter what Ryou's maps said, they had claimed this territory as their own. Joey took a step back to avoid a swinging paw, and fell into a hidden pit. Duke and Tristan flew up to the branches of nearby trees, and found themselves tangled in ropes and vines. Traps had been set everywhere. The panther, Ushio, was on Atem's back, biting and clawing, while Keith had somehow managed to knock Bakura out. He was right. We may have had them outnumbered, but they had home field advantage. They were winning, and we didn't stand a chance.

I could hear him coming up behind me, slowly. Wanting me to know that there was nothing I could do to stop him. And I did know. Until I saw Yugi, that is.

Ryou had been trying to protect Bakura's unconscious form, but was having trouble against the cougar. Just as he was about to join his teammate on the ground, Keith found himself with an angry neko on his back. For as anti-violence as Yugi had always claimed to be, he sure knew how to draw blood. Immediately, Keith's attention was pulled away from Ryou and focused solely on Yugi.

That settled it for me. They may have had experience with the area, but we had more people. As long as we didn't give up, there was still a chance at survival. Just as Hirutani got within striking distance, I picked up a branch and swung it as hard as I could. I would not die today. I would fight for my pack.

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Joey shook the stars from his eyes, getting a grip on his surroundings. He was in a hole.

'That's right! Those jerks booby-trapped the place!' He thought angrily. Sounds of the fight that was still raging reached his ears and he snarled. The hole he had fallen into was only about ten feet deep, but he had no way of knowing what else was up there. They had shaped the environment to fit their will. There would be no way to keep an eye out for traps and fight at the same time. 'Unless,' he thought, allowing a sly grin, 'I was to give them a taste of their own medicine.'

Without wasting anymore time, Joey reared back on his hind lags and began swinging his paws at the side of his prison. But not to get up. No. he wanted to get under. Chunks of dirt flew everywhere as he built his own tunnel. 'Sorry, Boss monkey, or rather, Boss kitty. Our surroundings work in my favor now.'

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Duke and Tristan had teamed up to take down Keith, but the cougar was proving to be more than they had expected. They may have had vampire strength, but Tristan was still way too young to be anywhere near Duke's level of power. Not to mention, it was now a battle of their power, against Keith's speed.

"Get back here, you!" Tristan shouted, swinging his fist at the elusive feline. At the last minute, though, said feline jumped out of the way, causing Tristan's fist to collide with a rock. _"Ow! Fu-,"_

 _"Language!"_ The vampires froze and looked incredulously at over at Ushio, who had momentarily paused in fending off Yugi. The neko, too, paused, out of confusion. "What? Nezumi hates cussing." Another moment passed, then he swung at Yugi again, who dodged.

Time began moving again as Duke and Tristan continued their game of catch-the-cat. "Tristan, get his left, I'll take his right! We'll block him in!"

Tristan nodded and they flew after their prey. Finally, they got him backed against a tree and went in for the attack, one on each side. Keith smirked. Some people just never learned. At the last possible second, he made to jump away, only to slam into the ground in shock. A second later, the two vampires slammed into him.

While Tristan delivered a blow to render their opponent unconscious, Duke gaped at his hind legs. Wrapped around Keith's ankles were two large, furry, blonde paws. They let go and began scrabbling at the dirt. A moment later, a large, furry, blonde head joined them.

"Hey, guys." Joey grinned.

Tristan laughed in astonishment. "Joey, man, you never cease to amaze me."

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Atem narrowed his eyes. Everybody else was occupied with the big three, but nobody had noticed the small one, the jaguar, had vanished. He lowered his nose to the ground and sniffed. Nezumi, or whatever his name was, had left a clear trail into the trees.

Dimly, he was aware of the sounds of fighting. He took one look back, seeing Ryou helping Yami fend off the tiger, while the two vampires and Joey, the new werewolf had moved to assist Aibo- no. Yugi. They had moved to help Yugi. Shaking his head, he continued after the trail the small one could be planning something, and he intended to find out wha-

 _"Atem!"_ Before he could react, he was shoved to the ground, the crack of a gun immediately echoing through the woods. Looking up, he saw the one he had been tracking, in human form now. He was pale, shaking, and pointing Yami's gun at them. The barrel was still smoking.

"G-get a-away from me."

Atem leaped to his feet, hardly noticing that it was Yugi who climbed off of him. He snarled, scaring the wild neko boy even more.

"I-I'm not a good fighter. Plea-,"

"You've got a gun. You're a threat. That's good enough for me."

The danger he was in finally sank in for Nezumi, and he did the safest thing his terrified mind could come up with. He turned and ran.

Atem took off after him. "Yugi, stay here." He called over his shoulder, eyes focused on his prey. The boy shifted to his faster, four-legged form, trying to outmaneuver his pursuer. It got him just over a hundred yards. Atem caught up to him quickly, shoving him to the ground.

"Help! I'm sorry, please! Don't hurt me!" Nezumi began screaming. Atem placed his paw square on his chest, almost crushing the poor jaguar.

"I don't want to see you or your pack near us again. If I catch any hint of you at all, I won't hesitate to kill."

Nezumi was sobbing at this point. "P-please. I don't want to d-die."

"Then make yourself scarce." Atem shifted back to human, grabbed the fallen gun, and walked off. He was almost back to where Yugi had saved him, when he froze. 'No,' he thought, 'please, no.' He broke into a run, following the gut-wrenching stench of blood. He rounded the last oak tree, praying, pleading, that he was wrong, and stopped. He saw what his nose told him was real. He heard the labored gasps, but his brain just wouldn't let him believe it was true. Yugi lay on the ground; blood soaked through his shirt directly above his heart.

"Yugi?" he whispered, almost to himself. One amethyst eye cracked open, ears flickering towards the sound of his voice. "Yugi." Atem broke out of his horrified trance and scrambled over to him as fast as he could, hardly noticing when he tripped and stumbled over roots, rocks, and shrubs. He fell to his knees and scooped the neko into his arms, trying to be gentle. "Yugi? Can you hear me?" Atem was terrified. He'd just found him again. He didn't even know how many lives he'd lost under the care of that other boy. If Yugi died, would he be gone for good? No. he wouldn't die. He couldn't.

Yugi's face contorted in pain for a moment, then he managed to crack his eyes open halfway. "Mn. Atem?"

"Easy, Yugi. You're going to be okay." He grew worried when he saw Yugi frown. "Yugi? What's wrong? What is it?"

In response, Yugi's eyes slid shut and his head lolled into Atem's chest.

"Yugi! Stay with me!"

Dull purple eyes struggled to open again. "'Tem?" Yugi whispered hoarsely.

"What is it?" Atem was trying to stem the flow of blood, but was quickly finding it to be a losing battle.

There was a pause, and Atem was concerned he'd lost consciousness again, but then he spoke, and it was the last thing Atem had expected to be asked right then.

"Are . . . we still . . . friends?"

He froze, heart thudding. "W-what?"

"Y-you," Yugi was now fighting to remain conscious, "You haven't . . . called me . . . Aibou."

Five words. That's all it took for his heart to break and his walls to crumble. "Aibou." He whispered, tears soaking his cheeks. "Aibou." But it went unheard. Yugi's head had gone limp against Atem's chest, his breathing no longer labored. No longer there. "Aibou, come back." He was gone.

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Well. How many of you saw that one coming? How do you think I did with this chapter? Joey's plan? The whole Yugi Atem scene? Let me know!

NEXT CHAPTER: Time to rest and heal. For everybody.


	18. Chapter 18

So, I promised that at the end of the last chapter, I'd explain who everyone was, but then forgot entirely. So here it is. Nezumi was in the first season, book five and he lured Yugi and Joey into a trap set by Hirutani. Keith was Bandit Keith. And I'm sure we all know Hirutani and Ushio. Please review! And enjoy! And before I forget, I won't be able to update over the summer. Sorry.

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"Ryou!" I shouted, tossing him a thick branch. The original one I'd hit Hirutani with had long since broken. Ryou caught the weapon and swung it like a baseball bat at the tiger's head. It connected, but only stopped him for a moment. Snarling, he lunged again.

 _*Boom*_

Hirutani froze at the sound of a gunshot. Everyone did, actually. I looked around the clearing, searching for whoever wasn't there. 'Yugi!' I thought, my heart skipping a beat. Joey met my eyes

"Where's Nezumi?" I started when Hirutani began barking orders at his two pack mates. The three of them ran off, Keith looking a bit shaky, but otherwise apparently worried for his friend.

Like we were. "Where are Atem and Yugi?" Ryou, supporting a very wobbly Bakura, walked over.

"Tea, you can come out now!" Tristan called out. He'd apparently hidden her towards the start of the fight.

"Joey," I walked over to him, "can you tell me which way Yugi went? Randomly searching won't do us any good."

"Yeah." He lowered his nose and walked in a circle, trying to pick up the trail. I was worried. Joey couldn't find anything, and the minutes passing by in silence did nothing to ease my nerves. In fact, every scenario, each worse than the last, ran through my brain. I knew that the gun that went off had to have been the one that Bakura had given me at the beginning of the fight. The one that I'd dropped when the jaguar tripped me. What if it had hit someone when it had gone off? What if-

 _"Yugi!"_ I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. Atem, tears soaking his cheeks, had just walked out of the trees. He was carrying Yugi. A very pale, very bloody, very still, Yugi. I sprinted over, desperately searching for and sign of movement. 'Please, please, please, oh God, please don't let him be . . . not Yugi, please.'

"I'm so sorry." Atem choked out, placing him in my arms. I barely even noticed when he stumbled away, all attention focused on my little friend.

"Yugi," I sank to my knees, clutching him tightly, eyes taking in the sight of blood. There was just so much of it. How could someone, especially someone Yugi's size, survive when so much was on the outside? "Y-Yugi? W-wake up." I shook him slightly. No response.

"Oh, my God." Tea knelt by us.

"Yami, how many lives has Yugi lost?" I heard someone ask, but my brain didn't register. I couldn't respond. "Yami." I jumped, snapping out of staring at the horror in my arms, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I suddenly realized that I'd been crying. "How many lives has Yugi lost?" Joey kept his voice soft, and spoke slowly, but it still took a minute for me to grasp what he'd said.

"Um, I'm his third Master, so-"

"No, I mean since he's been with you."

"Oh. Um, n-none. I think." I didn't know the extent of what had happened that night he'd spent in the woods, and while he'd been at Pegasus' place.

"Trust me; you'd know if he did. He's going to come back, but he needs your help to do so. You're his Master, so you can save him."

I looked down, heart thudding painfully against my ribs. Yugi wasn't breathing. Yugi wasn't moving. Yugi was gone. _Dead_. But he could be alive again. He could smile and open his eyes and laugh and _breathe_. I could make him alive again. I swallowed the lump in my throat. "What do I do?"

"Just focus on transferring your energy to him. Try to imagine him alive."

I closed my eyes and held him close. I tried to imagine all my energy pooling in my arms, flowing out of me and into Yugi. Tried to remember, with all my heart, how his eyes used to sparkle when he smiled. How he'd close his eyes to laugh. The rare moments when he'd gloat over a victory, but never in an intentionally mean way.

I felt a strange, tugging sensation, as if something were being drained out of me. I felt cold, but kept my focus on the task at hand.

I recalled how his ears would twitch as though they had minds of their own. How his tail would wrap itself around his legs, or become clutched in his hands if he was scared.

Something moved.

Yugi convincing me to be myself for our end of school party. Yugi standing over that snake.

I was freezing and tired. I felt like I hadn't slept in a week.

Yugi promising to be careful during his nighttime walks. Running down the street after him right before we met Joey. Cooking breakfast while he played with his collar, acting like it was the most precious thing in the world.

I was aware of something shifting in my arms. I pried my eyes open, blinking them in surprise when I saw amethyst staring back up at me.

"Yami?"

He was breathing. His eyes were open.

"Yami?"

He sat up. He was moving. He looked worried, but, right then, I was too happy to care. The forest tilted, and something strong grabbed me almost gently.

"Yami!"

He was talking. The night darkened, blacking out my vision as I gave into exhaustion. But that was okay. Yugi was alive.

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"Yugi!" Tea sobbed, gathering him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Joey sighed in relief, shifting Yami to a more comfortable position. He had just barely managed to catch him before he'd fainted. He would probably be out for a while, but he was fine. Exhausted, but fine.

"Is everybody else alright?" Ryou asked. He, Bakura, Duke, and Tristan had formed a wide, protective circle around them, just in case the wilds returned. Duke and Tristan had been watching worriedly the whole time Yami had been transferring his energy.

"I'm alright."

"Me too."

"Same."

"I'll be fine."

Everybody looked to Yugi, the one who had just come back form the dead. He was looking back and forth between Yami's unconscious form, and Atem, who had distanced himself from the group.

"Yugi? How do you feel?" Tristan prompted.

Yugi blinked, suddenly realizing that all eyes were on him. "I'm fine, guys. Really. Is Yami going to be okay? I've never seen a Master faint after reviving me before."

Ryou walked over to examine Yami. After a few minutes, and having not found any injuries, he turned to Yugi. "He will be fine. He just gave you a bit more of himself than was probably necessary." He stood and walked over to his backpack, pulling out a map. "I think that everybody will agree with me when I say that we should probably move on to a different camping spot." They all nodded their consent. He examined the maps for a moment, then looked up and pointed. "It looks like there's a good area less than a mile that way."

"Let's get going." Joey stood, cradling Yami. Everybody else shouldered their backpacks, Duke and Tristan carrying Joey's and Yami's, and they headed off.

Yugi reached up and took Yami's hand, holding it gently between his own. 'Wake up soon, Yami.'

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Hirutani put his nose in the air again and sniffed. His heart thudded painfully in his chest. 'Dammit, Nezumi, where the hell are you? There's a reason I told you not to get involved in the fight.'

"Hirutani," he stopped when he heard his name and looked up. Ushio stood there, panting. "We found him, but he won't come out."

"Is he hurt?" he asked worriedly.

"We can't tell, and he won't say."

Quickly they both took off, back to where Keith was crouched by a giant, fallen tree trunk. There was an old hole under it that Nezumi had apparently wedged himself in.

"C'mon, kiddo. Ushio's back with Hirutani. Can you come out now?" His tone was gentle, but Nezumi ignored it. That scared Hirutani. Whenever their youngest was afraid or hurt, Keith could calm him down almost instantly.

"Nezumi," he took over the cougar's position, crouched down, and peered into the hole. His heart clenched when he saw him, in human form, curled into a ball as far back as he could get. The boy's face was hidden, but his body was shaking with silent sobs. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Nezumi, are you hurt?"

No response.

"Nezumi, please. Are you injured?"

Again, silence. Just as he was about to reach in and try to pull him out, though, a small, wavering voice made its way to his ears. "H-he said he'd kill you."

"Who did?" Hirutani asked softly, pulling his paw back.

"Th-that big, black werewolf. H-he said that if-if you went near his pack again, he'd kill. And-and I think he's coming back to do that. He's gonna coma back and kill us."

"Hey, hey. Easy. We won't go after them again, alright? I promise."

Nezumi let out a quiet sob. "It doesn't matter. He's gonna come back for me." Keith, Ushio, and Hirutani looked ae each other, surprised and worried.

"What makes you say that?"

"I didn't mean to hit anybody, but he just appeared, an-and I had the gun, and I fired. I didn't mean to, but that domestic neko pushed him out of the way. I took one of his lives." He broke down in tears, sobbing for all his tiny body was worth. "I took a life."

"Nezumi," Hirutani crouched down and reached a paw in, attempting to pull him out. He pulled back with a start, though, when Nezumi gave a shout of pain and jerked away even further.

Instantly, Keith was there, shoving Hirutani out of the way. "Nezumi? Whats wrong? Are you hurt?" Choking out one last sob, he took a few gasps of air, clutching his side. "You _are_ hurt. Why didn't you tell us?"

"I," he winced, "I didn't notice. H-he stepped on my ribs. Th-that must have been when-"

"That werewolf did this to you? I swear-" Ushio was cut off by Hirutani.

"You'll do nothing. If they come back, we'll destroy them. But for right now, we need to focus on Nezumi. Or would you rather go against my orders?" he stood over the slightly smaller man, intimidating him into submission. Ushio dropped his eyes. "Then stand down." Hirutani growled, gaining compliance in return.

"C'mere." Keith had wedged himself as far under the log as he could get. Gently, he wrapped an arm around their youngest's back and pulled him out into the open. "Easy, easy. There ya go." Nezumi whimpered at being moved, and HIrutani rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going to move your shirt up, okay? I need to see how bad it is." Nezumi sniffed and nodded, burying his face in Keith's chest. Keith had, by this point, pulled him into his lap, cradling him securely.

Hirutani eased the bottom of his shirt up, Moving Nezumi's arms up to wrap around Keith's neck, out of his way. His eyes narrowed as he saw the black and blue blotch covering the left side of his pack mate's ribcage. "I think it may be broken." He sighed, pulling the shirt back down. "Alright, let's go home. We can take better care of you there."

Ushio helped Keith to stand without jostling Nezumi too much, and they set out. Back to the territory they had been given, and had tried to expand. Sometimes, you just end up right back where you came from.

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I heard something crackling. It wasn't harsh and loud, but rather soft and soothing. And it didn't stop. Then I became aware of warmth. I was lying down. Something really warm was pressed against my side. I tried to pry my eyes open, but they felt like they had been replaced with lead weights. When I finally did manage to, however, my eyes ended up being greeted with an assaulting, flickering, light. I sucked in a breath and jerked my head in the other direction.

Suddenly, the warmth pressed against my side moved. "Yami?" It sounded like Yugi. He must know what was wrong with- wait. It couldn't be Yugi. That was impossible. Yugi was dead. Unless . . . more memories came back to me. I remembered purple eyes. I remembered hearing a voice, _his_ voice, call my name. I remembered being happy.

Slowly, carefully, I pried my eyes open one more time. This time, there was no light, as I was facing away from it, but instead a warm, blanketing darkness. I could see some trees about twenty yards away, and some backpacks. Shifting slightly, I realized that, for some reason, I was in a sleeping bag.

"Yami? You're awake!" Small hands were placed on my chest, and I looked up. Yugi. Could this be real? Or was it just some cruel dream? Yugi was dead, wasn't he? Atem had placed his lifeless, bloody, corpse in my arms. "Joey, Yami's awake." Yugi, no, the being that was most defiantly _not_ Yugi, called over his shoulder. A minute later, Joey's blonde head was in my line of sight.

"Hey, buddy. How ya feeling?" He asked softly.

I sighed and tried to sit up. Instantly, Joey's arm was around my shoulders, supporting me. "Hey, easy does it."

"W-what happened?" I was shocked by how thick and hoarse my voice sounded.

"You used up too much energy reviving me, remember?" Yugi looked a bit worried.

"That . . . that was real?"

"Yeah. You fainted almost immediately afterwards, so I'm not surprised that you don't remember, but that was real." Joey assured.

I looked around. We were in a clearing, sleeping bags scattered around a campfire, but something was wrong. "Where is everyone else?"

"Tea, Tristan, and Duke are looking for some medicinal plants to stock up on, just in case, and Bakura and Atem set up a perimeter so those wilds can't get at us again." Yugi glanced at Joey, who took over.

"Ryou went to call their third teammate. Apparently he was staying behind to make sure Pegasus wouldn't come after us, but Ryou and Bakura feel we may need some extra muscle in getting the rest of the way there. And from what little he said, it sounds like this guy is the main muscle in their group."

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This may or may not be my last update until school gets back in, but don't worry. This fic is not going to be discontinued.

NEXT CHAPTER: Yugi has to have a talk with someone, which prompts a conversation that two people should have probably had a while ago. Please review!


	19. Chapter 19

So, everybody seems to have guessed that the third teammate is Akafia. We will be finding out here whether you are right or wrong! Also, this is going to be my last update before summer starts, so I am sorry for that. Personally, I think that I could have done much better on this, and the Bakura moment was particularly poor. But please let me know what you think!

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The moon was high in the sky, and even the crickets had turned in for the night. The campfire, once enough to burn away the darkness to the tree line, was now struggling to light the rocks previously keeping it from spreading.

Atem, unable to sleep after the events of the day, was standing watch. That is, he was watching the woods for any movement or hint of a threat. Had he been facing his sleeping companions, however, he would have noticed that one was not as asleep as the others.

"Atem?" He jumped and spun around at the whispering voice. Yugi stood there, uncertain, tail moving slightly back and forth.

"Yu-Aibou. What are you doing up?" Atem asked, slightly unsure if Yugi would be alright with the use of his nickname, or if the had just been the blood loss talking.

"I . . . wanted to talk to you." Yugi sat down by him. As neither was very sure of how to start, they ended up sitting in an awkward silence for a while.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Atem finally asked.

Yugi was silent, staring at the stars. "I'm sorry." He said, not even glancing over.

Atem was startled. "Sorry? For what?"

Yugi looked down, running a hand over the dirt, playing with a few stones. "For dying in front of you again."

"You . . . don't have to apologize for that. I should be saying sorry for letting you-,"

"I pushed you out of the way. The choice was mine. You cant move faster than a bullet. Especially one you didn't even see-,"

"That's exactly my point! I _should_ have seen. I should have been aware of my surroundings! You payed the price for my incompetence." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Again."

"Atem-,"

"I should have known better than to run right at an attacking werewolf." He clenched his hand into a fist, shaking. "I promised to find you a way out. Look at what I did instead."

Yugi was silent for a minute, giving him time to calm down. "I hate to say it, Atem, but that _was_ the only way out for me. As much as you may hate it, you did free me from that life. Look at right now. Duke and Ryou, the two of us, we're all free of him. We're all together." Yugi let his gaze wander back to the still forms scattered around the campfire. "And it's not just the four of us against the world anymore."

Atem looked over at them as well. The girl was curled up on her side, breathing softly. The tall vampire was stretched out between her and the tree line, while Duke was using a rock as a pillow a few meters away. Ryou was sound asleep by the shadow elf, under his arm, and looked perfectly content. The blonde werewolf had shifted to his full werewolf form and had curled himself protectively around the last boy. Yugi's new Master. Until a few moments ago, Yugi had been huddled against his side.

"You like him?" he asked, not removing his gaze. Yugi looked over at Yami, smiling softly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I really do. I, um, I didn't tell him right away. That I was a neko." Yugi looked down, going back to his old distraction of playing with the dirt.

Atem glanced at him sideways. "How'd it go when he found out?"

"He walked in on me while I was taking a nap. He, um," Yugi broke off, giggling a bit at the memory. It hadn't been funny at the time, but now he was able to look back and laugh. "He woke me up and threatened to call the cops for breaking in and chasing off his cat. I tried to explain to him that I was his cat, and he almost called the psych ward. Surprisingly, it was when I shifted in front of him that he managed to calm down."

"Yugi." Atem got his attention.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for not asking before, but . . ." he trailed off. "Yami. Is he . . . he _is_ your second Master, isn't he?"

Yugi dropped his gaze to the ground. "No. Yami's my third. I met him almost a month ago."

Atem's breath hitched. Yugi had lost seven lives. Seven. And he was at fault for two of them.

"Atem. I, um," Yugi turned his head away, so the larger male wouldn't see his eyes, which were currently squeezed shut. "I never really heard your answer."

"Answer to what?" It took the werewolf a minute to realize what he was probably referring to. "You mean whether we're still friends?" Yugi didn't turn around. He just nodded, ears laid back. "I guess that's up to you, but I still consider you one of the best friends I've ever had. I don't think I deserve the same, though."

"You're still here, aren't you? And you keep apologizing for things that you had no control over. I consider you my friend."

Atem was silent, head bowed so that his bands covered his face. Yugi looked up at him, concerned. He really was beating himself up over the past way too much. He shifted and placed a hand on his arm. The instant he made contact, however, Atem was on his feet. "You should get back to sleep. We have a long day ahead."

"Atem-,"

"C'mon, Aibou. I'll walk you back down." Yugi smiled softly, standing up as well.

"Okay, Atem. And thanks." He took Atem's hand and leaned his head on his arm as they walked back down. The embers of the fire were long since out, gone without either noticing.

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"Yugi," I called. We were walking again. I had woken up feeling much better, and Yugi and Joey were now horsing around, playing a hiding and chasing game further up the trail. "Don't get too far ahead, you two."

"I'll go catch up with them." Tristan rolled his eyes, unfurling his wings.

I watched as he flew away. He may act annoyed, but he wasn't able to actually fool any of us. Ever since he'd been turned, Duke had been giving him flying lessons. He now took any opportunity to get off the ground.

"He likes candy." I blinked and looked over. I hadn't noticed, but Atem was right next to me.

"Pardon me?"

"Yugi. He likes candy."

"Okay? I'll keep that in mind." I took a closer look at his face. He was glaring at every tree we passed, as if trying to ignite them with his eyes. What surprised me, though, was the light dusting of pink over his cheek bones. Atem, big, scary, werewolf Atem, was blushing. "Is there a reason you brought that up?"

" . . . Yeah. I wanted to start a conversation."

"Oh. About anything in particular? Or just in general?"

"Ai-Yugi, and I had a talk last night. I figured it couldn't hurt to get to know you a bit better."

"Okay. So what did you what to know?"

"How did you first meet him?"

"I was on my way home from work when he saved me from a snake. I took him home because I thought he was a stray. To tell the truth, I was kind of happy when I found out that he wasn't an actual cat. I'd never owned one before, and I was constantly worried that I'd do something wrong."

"Sorry to interrupt the bonding, but we're approaching an obstacle." Ryou spoke up, reading a map.

"Great. What kind?" I tried to maintain my patience, but found it a bit hard to do so. It felt like weeks had passed since our last relaxing day. Something was always trying to kill us, or chase us, or capture-

"A ravine. Nothing too major."

Well. That was a welcome change.

"The ravines coming up? Sweet!" Bakura pumped his fist in the air, suddenly looking determined. "I'm gonna make it this time!"

"No, you're not. And you should probably stop trying." Ryou deadpanned, not even looking up. "It should be just a few miles past that that we meet up with him." He muttered.

We rounded the next corner and spotted Joey, Yugi, and Tristan, standing on the edge of a cliff, leaning over to try and see the bottom.

"Bakura? Care to get us across?" Ryou glanced over at him.

He smirked. "You boys may want to get back." He called. All three came over. He closed his eyes and concentrated, the shadows closing over his hands.

"Whats going on?" Joey asked.

"The safe zone we're heading for protects several mythological creatures, some who have been, or are currently being hunted. This is one of the many security features we offer. Most cant get past this."

Bakura opened his eyes and locked in on a large, thick, pine tree about twenty feet away, and swung his arms like twin swords.

* _Shiing_ *

* _Crack_ *

* _Crash_ *

Two cuts appeared like magic at the base of the tree, causing it to fall. It landed over the ravine, creating a bridge.

"And not many are able to find the front door." Ryou smirked. "'Kura's shadows make excellent blades."

"Everybody be careful." I called, lifting Yugi up so that he could follow Joey. Taking a breath, I jumped and scrambled for a handhold.

"Not to sound cynical, but we could just fly everyone across, right? Why go to all this trouble?" Duke asked.

"Tristan is too new to fly more than one person, and you would have to fly back and forth several times. With that, the risk of dropping someone increases each time you cross. Not to mention, shifting for me is different than it is for you. Pegasi aren't naturally able to shift into humans. I am among the first born with such ability."

"So, basically, it's too hard for you to shift, so you'd rather destroy the environment." Duke joked. The entire time the conversation had been taking place, we'd been steadily, but slowly making our way across. Upon reaching solid land, I jumped down and turned. Ryou was behind me, and Duke and Tristan had opted to fly over. Tea and Joey came behind me. That only left-

"Bakura! You're never going to make it! Stop trying!" Ryou yelled, but it was already too late. Bakura had taken a huge running start and was now flying through the air, attempting to land on our side.

"Bakura!" We all yelled, watching in horror as he missed. Before we could stop him, Ryou had dived over the edge, after him.

A moment later, a large, pure white horse flew into view. Bakura was clutching its neck, seated just behind two large, and feathered, wings. They landed, none too gracefully, in front of us. In fact, it was probably more of a crash landing. As soon as the Pegasus touched the ground, he tripped, momentum making roll over. Right over Bakura. When they came to a stop, Ryou was stretched out by him, and the Pegasus was nowhere to be seen.

"Ouch. Just once, Bakura," he groaned, rolling over, "Use your brain."

Joey stalked over and lifted the shadow elf by the front of his shirt. "What the hell was that?"

Bakura raised his hands defensivly. "I just thought we could use some excitement." Everyone stared at him incredulously. ". . .Of the . . . not killing us kind?"

"I think we've had enough excitement lately. We should probably get going if we're going to meet up with your teammate." I broke in.

"True." Ryou sat up stiffly, rubbing his back and wincing. "Bakura, get rid of the bridge."

Bakura, now free of Joey, walked over and lowered his head, once again focusing on creating his shadow blades.

* _Shiing_ *

Two perfect cuts appeared in the center of the log, causing it to tumble down into the abyss below.

"Man. That's a long way down." Yugi muttered, leaning over the edge, the pieces still crashing into each other and the walls.

"Good call," Duke said after the noise had stopped, "Not flying over."

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"Yami," I looked up. Night was just beginning to fall, but it was still bright enough that we didn't need a campfire yet.

"Yeah, Yugi? What's up?"

He sat down next to me and curled into my side, head resting on my shoulder. 'I never thanked you. For bringing me back to life."

"I never really believed you, you know. When you said that nekos had three chances at three lives."

He smiled slightly. "I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did."

"It's alright. I'm just thankful that you're here. And alive." I slipped my arm behind his back and held him close. At this time, one day ago, I'd been holding him close too, but the situations couldn't have been more different.

"So when's this guy supposed to get here?" Joey had taken to pacing to burn off his excess energy.

"Any minute now, Joey." Ryou had been saying the same thing for the past fifteen minutes.

"Can I ask what kind of mythical he is?" Tea asked

"Actually, he's an ancient, like the two of us."

"You're an ancient?"

He smiled sadly. "Yeah. Pegasi are ancients."

She was about to respond when a strong gust of wind swept through the clearing. It faded quickly, only to reappear again. And again. That seemed to be coming and going in some sort of rhythm. Almost like . . . wing beats. I shielded my eyes and looked up. Descending towards us was a giant, white dragon.

I blinked in shock. I knew that dragon. It was the Blue Eyes White Dragon, from Duel Monsters. But, wasn't it just a card?

"Kaiba!" Ryou called, waving. Beside me, I heard Yugi gasp. He was staring, wide-eyed at . . . wait. Kaiba? As in Kaiba from school? Anti-social and teenage owner of Kaibacorp, Kaiba?

Before I could think on that anymore, though, he landed and Yugi stood. Without looking back, he bolted towards him as fast as he could. Kaiba saw him and his eyes grew comically wide.

"Noa?"

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Whoa! Cliffhanger! Plot twist! And now I am leaving for three months DX I am sorry for this, but l love creating suspense! For those of you who don't know, I was requested to make a side story one-shot to this, and it is now up. Go check out Missing: Attack Cat! Also, I feel I should add, so there is no confusion, Seto Kaiba is the creator of Duel Monsters in this universe.

NEXT CHAPTER: Yami learns more about his best friend, Joey has doubts after the whole wild neko ordeal, and a fish dinner should never be left unattended.


	20. Chapter 20

Hello people! Guess who's not dead? (Drumroll) Me! So, now, without further ado, I present to you, the next chapter! Enjoy and review! Also, please don't be mad if I don't update for a few more weeks. I just got a computer (YAY!), but don't have Internet on it, so I have to get to the library to post.

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy The dragon had shifted down to the human form we recognized him by. That didn't concern me any less. How did Yugi know Kaiba? From what it sounded like, Pegasus didn't have any dragons, and after that . . . my eyes grew wide with realization. After Pegasus, but before me. Did Kaiba have something to do with Yugi's second Master?

"Its nice to see you again." The tone, more than the words, drew me back to the present. Yugi stood in front of Kaiba, back straight, head held high, and shoulders back. He spoke formally and paid no attention to the disbelieving stare he was receiving from the usually expressionless teen.

"N-Noa? Is that really you?"

"Yes. Although my name is Yugi now-," he broke off as, as if this scene wasn't surprising enough, Kaiba fell to his knees and enveloped him in a tight hug.

"I never got the chance to thank you. I'm so sorry I didn't get there in time."

"Its okay. I don't blame you. Was Mokuba alright?"

"Yes, thanks to you." He realized that it wasn't just the two of them, and that they were currently the center of attention, and stood up, clearing his throat. "Ryou, Bakura, how far are we from our destination?"

"Um, if we keep up our current speed, two to three days. How do you two know each other?"

He straightened his coat, still trying to preserve his dignity. "I was his Master up until last month. I didn't want anyone to know about him."

"You had a neko this whole time? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I didn't want him involved in this part of my life. It's dangerous enough for me, and he didn't need my enemies knowing of his existence." He turned back to Yugi, petting his head briefly. "I trust your new Master is treating you well?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get brought up to speed with what's been going on with this trip." He walked over to Ryou and Bakura.

Yugi looked after him for a moment, and then returned to my side. "Sorry about that."

"You know Kaiba?" My brain was still trying to process all that had just happened."

"Yes. He was my second Master."

"You seemed pretty chummy with him. I thought your second Master was well, scary. You told me when we first met that you had been afraid of me turning out like your first two Masters."

Yugi lowered his gaze, ears and posture both going limp. "That was when we'd first met. I thought that the main reason that Pegasus had turned into Boss was because I'd shifted when I first met him, so, when I met Seto, I stayed human and tried to convince him of who I was."

"I can imagine how well that worked for you."

"He didn't want me around. When I tried to follow him into his building, he had security keep me out. By the time he and Mokuba finally left, the separation had started to take effect in a bad way."

"How did you go from there to what happened jus now?"

"I saved Mokuba from getting hit by a car. I had been separated from my Master for so long that I almost didn't make it in time. That's actually how I lost my fourth life. He saw my ears and tail and knew I was telling the truth. He took me home in thanks for saving Mokuba and, it took a while, but he accepted me. Even named me after his deceased brother. I saved him from an assassination attempt shortly afterwards, so he got kind of protective of me, as I only had one life left with him at that point."

I looked at him sadly. "You just can't catch a break, can you?"

"I prefer to think of it as, things happen as they happen. You get upset because you expect an easy or fair life."

In that moment, I realized. Yugi really had, in more ways than one, lived many times over the life I had. Any of us had. He'd given his life for others, several times, and hadn't even been allowed the freedom of having one of his own. I'd had my own life, still did, but the difference was, I had a choice to do with it as I chose. I could live it for myself, or for someone who deserved it. I reached over and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into my lap.

"Yami?"

"Wisdom is not always something that comes with age."

He sighed, relaxing his body into mine. "Yeah. I know. Mokuba used to tell me something similar."

"What happened?" I wished I could take back those two words as soon as I felt him tense again.

"Mokuba and I got kidnapped. I managed to get us out, but couldn't gat back to Seto in time."

"You mean you died? Because of the separation?" he just nodded.

"Yugi, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Yami. I don't. We have more important tings to worry about, now, than the past."

I knew he was just hoping I'd drop it, and I did, but that didn't mean it didn't concern me. He was my friend, the best friend I'd ever had, and his past was now popping up all around him. He's been through this, and was now having it thrust back at him. It mattered to me, because it mattered to him. I couldn't just forget about it.

"Lets just gat some sleep." He curled back into me, closing his eyes. "We have a big day ahead of us."

I just held him close, praying that we reached our destination before anything else happened.

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"Joey," the addressed blonde looked up, rubbing at his eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, Yug'."

Yugi walked over. The group had just stopped for lunch by a small creek, and Joey had disappeared almost instantly. "Then why are you over here? And don't try to lie to me."

The werewolf starred at the water for a moment, and then sighed. "I was just thinking about Hirutani. I mean he really made me think that I was an important part of the gang. I just-," he broke off, unsure of how to continue; of what he wanted, _needed_ , to say. "I guess, I'm just not so sure of myself anymore. Of anything, really." He stood, paws sinking into the mud, and began heading back to the group. Might as well, before anyone else started to worry.

"Joey." He looked behind him. Yugi, in cat form, was sitting in one of his massive paw prints. "If anyone's the pet here, its not you. Trust me." He was able to sit in the center of the imprint without touching any of the sides. That was the moment Joey realized. Yugi was _tiny_. He was small and fragile and had gone through all of this, just as Joey had. He'd come back from the dead not even two days prior, yet, he was the one asking if Joey was all right. Big, huge, invincible, Joey was being looked over by someone he should have been protecting.

Someone he should have been protecting . . .

Joey lowered his head and stepped over to Yugi, shifting as he went. Yugi, sensing what he needed, followed suit and was soon being gathered up by strong arms. Joey buried his face in his friend's tiny shoulder, letting his tears soak the shirt, holding onto him like the little neko was his last lifeline. And, in a way, he was. It had only been two years since the last person he'd had to protect, to shelter from the world's evils, had disappeared out of his life forever. His little sister, Serenity, had remained in America with their mother. The siblings always made sure to call each other at least once a month. It wasn't much, but being able to hear her voice was enough to help him through whatever he was facing. Being born of two nationalities, and with his thick Brooklyn accent, he'd been the target of much mockery growing up. But those calls stopped with one from his mother. He hadn't been there to protect her. Hadn't been the big brother she'd needed. And she was gone. Taken. The police had found no clues, no ransom note, no . . . _body_.

No. He'd finished sobbing, but hadn't let go. He would not be weak. He had people who needed him now. Who needed him to be strong. To protect them. He couldn't doubt himself now, or them.

"Thanks, Yugi." His voice shook, but his chest felt lighter than it had in a while. He hadn't been able to protect his sister, which was something he couldn't change. But this wasn't the past. This was the present. And he wouldn't let anything else happen to anyone he cared about. "I guess I needed that."

"No problem, Joey." Yugi replied.

"C'mon, pal. Lets get back before the others start to worry." They stood and brushed themselves off. "And, by the way," he placed his hand on Yugi's shoulder, "You're not anyone's pet, alright?"

Yugi looked at him, then smiled and hugged his arm. " . . . I know. Thanks, Joey."

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I refilled my canteen, screwed the top back on, and then scanned the tree line. Yugi and Joey hadn't come back yet, but Yugi had told me that he'd wanted to talk to Joey alone. I trusted his judgment, but not our luck.

"I take it you're Yami?" I looked up, trying not to feel intimidated by the towering figure of Seto Kaiba.

"Wow. Did _anyone_ notice me in school? We were in the same class."

"You're Noa's new Master?"

"Yes, I am. And his name's Yugi." I made sure to meet his glare with one of my own.

"If anything happens to him-,"

"Which it wont. Not again."

" . . . Regardless of what you say, you can't predict the future. If anything does happen, just know that the Blue Eyes White Dragon card was modeled after me. Perfectly." He spun on his heel and went to walk away.

"Are you threatening me?" I followed after him. "Hey!" I grabbed his arm and he glared at me, freezing me in my tracks.

"Yes. I am." He walked away, and this time, I let him go.

"The only person I've ever seen him get that protective of is his brother." Ryou came up, re-rolling a map. "I guess this just goes to show how attached he got to him."

"Ryou," my blood was still cold with realization. Something had clicked in my mind the moment Kaiba had glared at me. "Why, did you say, was Kaiba staying behind?"

"To make sure Pegasus didn't try to follow us."

"Who's making sure of that now?"

Ryou smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Yami. We're too far out for him to catch up to us now. Even if he did know where to look."

"Its not him I'm worried about. It's Kemo. Pegasus uses him as a tracker."

"Our trail is old by now-," he broke off as he caught on to what I was saying.

"Not Seto's."

Ryou clenched his jaw, and then looked me in the eye. "I'll have Bakura keep an eye out for him. But there's no guarantee that he'll come after us."

"I know." I replied, "But its better to be safe than sorry."

He nodded. It was then that I noticed Yugi and Joey returning. This conversation could wait for later. And, besides, Ryou and Bakura would be keeping watch, as would Seto and Atem. We were safe.

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"Mine!"

"Paws off! Its mine!"

"Would both of you shut up? I caught it, so it's mine!"

Everybody had finished dinner. 'Everybody', however, apparently didn't include Duke, Tristan, and Joey. And there was only one fish left.

"You don't even need it, vampire! I saw you drinking that beaver earlier!"

"Are you kidding? I _drink_ blood! I don't _eat_ it!"

"Regardless, it's mi- _Hey_!" Joey and Duke looked over at Tristan, who had been trying to sneak the leftover while the other two were distracted. The fish was gone. "I swear I didn't take it!"

"Oh, is that what you were fighting over? Sorry." All three of them spun to stare at Yugi.

"You little rat-,"

" _Ouch_." Tristan broke off as Tea fell, clutching her calf. She sat on the ground, rubbing her leg.

"Tea?" I hurried over, closely followed by Yugi, Joey, and Tristan. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I think I must have walked through a sticker bush, though."

"Let me see." Joey bent down by her and rolled up one of her pant legs. Scattered all over her skin were dull, dark blue . . . _things_. They looked like stones, or maybe bugs, but appeared to be . . . I gasped and turned away, horrified and sick to my stomach. They appeared to be digging into her skin. Under each one was a small trail of blood.

 _"Oh, my god! What the hell is on my legs?"_ I heard her exclaim, sounding as panicked as I felt.

Nobody answered for a moment, until Yugi decided to take control. "Joey, Tristan! Get her in the river! Now!"

I turned and saw Tristan scoop her up bridal style, and run for the water, Joey and Yugi right on his heels. As soon as he hit the river, he ran in up to his knees and knelt, lowering her in.

"Alright. I need everybody out of the water, and nobody watching. Tea, this is going to sound strange, but nobody is going to peek." He waited until everybody had obeyed him, facing away rom her, to continue. "You, ah," I blinked. Suddenly, he wasn't sounding as confident as he had a moment prior. "You need to take your pants off."

There was no response from Tea for a beat, then, "If any of you look, I will personally make your lives a living hell."

"Don't worry, Tea. Nobody's going to look. Just do what you need to." Joey's voice was slightly shaking, and his accent was slightly more pronounced.

I heard some shuffling in the water, and then, a minute later, Tea gasped in pain. There was some splashing, and then she gasped again, this time in shock.

"Guys? I um, think you can look now."

I, along with everyone else, turned. And stared. From the waist up, Tea looked just the same. But from the waist down . . . that was a different story. A shimmering, deep blue tail floated behind her, sparkling in the sunlight. Tea was a mermaid.

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

So, how was that? How many of you guessed that Tea was a mermaid? And I can never get enough of Yugi Joey fluffy moments. X) Aren't they just so _cute_?

What do you think is going to happen next? I love to hear from all of you!

NEXT CHAPTER: Yami cant fly, Tea wants more information, and the gang gets a visit from an old friend. Or maybe not.


	21. Chapter 21

We are nearing the end, folks, but that by no mean translates to a boring next few chapters. I've always believed in going out with a bang.

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"So, anyway-,"

"Whee!"

"-there's a town we could get to, well, maybe one or two of us if Seto flew them, but we could get some skirts there."

"Yahoo! C'mon, guys! The waters great!"

"Tea, we understand how excited you are," Ryou took a pencil from the smallest pocket of his backpack and marked the town, then a route to where we'd all meet back up, "but please try to understand that we are still not yet at our safe zone. Yami, Yugi, how about you go with Seto to buy Tea some skirts, then meet back with us . . . here."

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"Yami? Are you alright?" I felt a hand rubbing circles over my back. He sighed and curled himself up against me. "You're not having an easy trip, are you? Problems with blood and flying. Not enough time to rest. I was seated, knees gathered against my chest, head buried in my arms. I had slid off of Seto's back the instant we'd landed and hadn't been able to move since. That was twenty minutes ago, but my heart just wouldn't stop pounding. "Seto, I'm going to stay here and try to calm him down. Could you go pick up Tea's skirts please?"

I heard him sigh, probably rolling his eyes, too, but all he said was, "Fine. I'll be back soon. Don't let anything happen while I'm gone."

"I won't, Seto. Be careful."

"I was talking to him." There were receding footsteps through the underbrush, and he was gone.

"Yami?" I swallowed thickly, stomach still rolling from the flight. "Yami, are you alright?" I nodded slightly, and he hugged me from behind. "Everybody's got problems, Yami."

"I thought I was over it." I croaked, my voice incredibly hoarse and shaky. "I haven't flown since I was twelve, and every time I did, I'd have near or full on panic attacks. That's why Mom and Dad at home for their travels." I turned my head to look at him. "I'm sorry. I should have said something."

"Don't apologize, Yami. As I said, everybody has problems."

"Yeah. Sure." I looked away.

"Yami?"

I sighed. "Its just . . . now that Tea's found out what she is, I'm the only human in the group. And even before she knew, she's the doctor. She can help out when somebody's hurt. I can't stand the sight of blood." I buried my head in my arms.

Yugi leaned against me. "Yami, nobody sees you as useless. You need to understand that everybody here has good points and bad points. And I don't think anyone else here can handle a gun as well as you." He broke off with a quiet laugh. "I still can't believe you pulled off that shot. Barely missing both Ushio _and_ Hirutani? Did you see their faces?"

I couldn't help my self. I saw their faces in my minds eye and let out a laugh of my own. They had been so shocked, but it had been _me_ who'd pulled that trigger.

"And don't think I didn't see you hit Hirutani in the face with that stick." He rested his head on my shoulder. "Yami, you may be a human, but you managed to fend off a tiger. Without a gun."

It was those three words that wiped the smile from my face. I unwrapped my arms from myself and pulled him into my lap. Burying my face into his shoulder, I let out a strangled sob. "I'm sorry. I-I should have kept a better hold on it. I-,"

"Yami." I tried to even my breathing, but couldn't lift my face to look at him. "What happened was not your fault. I'm fine. You need to stop blaming yourself." I held him tighter and felt him sigh. "You know, between you and Atem, I've gotten enough guilt trips to last the entire rest of this little adventure. I'm fine, Yami. I promise."

"I know. Its just . . . I almost lost you."

"Yami, look at me." I raised my head slightly. He wore a stern, concerned expression. "I am fine. You are not to blame for what happened." He said each word slowly and clearly. "We are almost at the refuge, and even if something else _does_ happen to me, I still have two lives left-,"

I jerked and pressed my hands against his mouth. My brain was still trying to sort out a response to what he'd just said. His wide eyes stared at me in confusion. I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and tried to convey what I wanted to tell him.

"Don't you ever try to tell me that you are expendable. You don't know how hard it is for everyone to see you like that. For _me_. Yugi, you are the first real friend I've ever had. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"That doesn't change the fact that I do still have two more lives-,"

"What if it was me?"

He shut his mouth ad cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"What if I were the one with multiple lives? What if you had to watch _me_ die?"

He clenched his jaw, eyes flickering away. After a moment of thinking about it, he sighed and curled into my chest, head tucked under my chin. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize . . . I guess I never considered what it was like for you."

I rubbed his arm. "Just, please, don't ever take your life for granted again, alright?" I almost added, 'That's an order,' but decided against it. This was something he had to decide on for himself. Not to mention, his was his. In order for him to see that, I couldn't go around ordering him to cherish something just because I did. His choices weren't mine to make.

Yyyyy

"Are you _sure_ this is the fastest way back?" Yugi, in kitten form asked from where he'd attached himself to me; under my jacket, right on my side.

"Since we can't fly, yes." Seto growled. We were seated on his back, well, I was, anyway. Yugi was hanging onto me for dear life. The little neko had convinced Seto not to fly back, but that hadn't left us with much other choice in how to return to everyone else. Thus, we were now sitting on a temperamental dragon, swimming down a river, holding a large bag of assorted skirts so that our mermaid could shift back and forth without getting naked.

I sighed, then stiffened and turned around. Nothing. I scanned either side of the shore, but still, nothing was there. I shook my head. We were just a few days away from our destination. Now was no time to become paranoid. Oh, how I would kick myself later.

Yyyyy

I yawned and rubbed my eye, holding a hotdog on a stick over the campfire. Yugi was curled up next to me, head resting on my leg, while everybody else was either cooking or eating their food.

"So, what's it going to be like when we get there? To this 'safe zone', I mean." Joey asked.

"Actually," Ryou answered, swallowing his last bite of hotdog, "its more of a village. We have several mythicals living there, all under our protection, all living their lives. Some have been held captive for so long that they need help adjusting to social groups, while others just require a bit of distance between themselves and everyone else. We try to provide you with what you need to feel comfortable."

"I don't mean to sound rude," Tea interrupted, "but this just sounds like, I don't know, a fluffy version of a prison. Like, if we get what we need, we wont try to leave."

"Not at all." He smiled, "In fact, if you want to leave, we'll find you another place to live, or help you settle into society. Seto is a good example of that; he's living among regular humans everyday, and they don't suspect a thing."

"What about Hirutani and his pack?" I asked. "I remember you saying something about staying in his territory?"

"Some of the people staying with us are out of society more for everyone else's safety, than their own. They were too dangerous to have in town, so we agreed on a compromise with them; they live under our protection, away from humans, and we'll give them one of the territories between our village and human civilization. There are several other territories like that."

"Is that another one of the security measures you have set up? Mythicals too dangerous to live with anyone else?"

"Yes."

"What a coincidence. I don't suppose you could find me a place?" My blood ran cold, and everybody jumped and spun to look at the speaker. "Boo." Kemo stood there, at the edge of the clearing, in full, massive, werewolf form.

Instantly, I grabbed Yugi and we retreated. Joey, however, lunged forward, putting himself between Kemo and our group.

"I've been waiting for our rematch. Except this time, its gonna be even you son of a-,"

"Language."

Joey blinked in surprise. "Are you kidding me?"

The larger werewolf just smirked. "Heard about your run-in with the kitties."

Joey lowered his head and snarled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here on orders from Pegasus. He says that if he can't have the neko, and you all seem to agree that he can't, then no one can." He snarled and leapt at Joey. The two rolled over each other, both trying to pin their opponent. Just when Joey managed to gain the upper hand, though, Kemo latched both paws on him, flipped him over his shoulder, and slammed his head into the ground. He then stood up, smiling smugly. Joey lay limp and motionless. "Who's next?"

Seto grew into his other form and roared threateningly, while Atem shifted and bared his teeth, growling lowly. Before anyone else could react, though, Kemo whipped out a strange looking gun, pointed it, and fired. Crackling, blue electricity flashed dragon's massive chest as he howled and convulsed in pain. A moment later, he too was on the ground, stunned and twitching. Kemo immediately fired off two more shots, hitting Bakura and Duke. Another hit Atem when he tried to attack.

Ryou and Tristan ran to help them while I bolted for the gun. He was currently aiming it at Tristan, so he didn't see me coming until I landed on his back. The gun went off, hitting a tree.

He spun violently, trying to shake me off, but I just wrapped my arms tighter around his neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Joey move slightly.

'Good. He's not dead.' That was the only thought I had time to process before my mount reached one of his massive paws behind his head, grabbed me, and yanked me into his arms. One arm was wrapped around my torso, pinning my arms to my sides, while the other was holding my neck, rendering my head immobile.

Ryou, Tea, Tristan, a dizzy looking Joey, and Yugi all froze, starring at me in horror. I felt his chest vibrate as he laughed darkly.

"You know, my original plan was to kill the neko, wait until you brought him back, then show up and kill him again, but I think this will be much more entertaining. Killing the Master, thereby forcing you all to watch as the little kitty withers and dies. Right in front of you."

"Put. Him. Down." Ryou held his hands up as if to try to calm him down. He just laughed. I glanced at Yugi, heart aching when I saw how scared and helpless he looked.

The arms tightened around me. 'Yugi,' I mouthed frantically, 'please, look away.'

"Say goodbye."

I felt my head get jerked and was suddenly looking at the trees that had been to my side a moment ago. I heard screaming, but the beautiful light swallowed me up before I could care.

Yyyyy

So sorry for the delay with this one, but please tell me what you thought of it! ;3

NEXT CHAPTER: Wait and see!


	22. Chapter 22

"Say good bye." Joey watched, brain clearing just in time to see Yami's head get jerked to the side. He saw his friend stare blankly far a moment, before he went limp and Kemo dropped him unceremoniously to the dirt.

As soon as the crack rang out, though, Yugi screamed and crumpled, clutching his chest. Yelling in rage, Tristan, along with the now recovered Duke, Bakura, and Atem tore after the fleeing monster. Tea and Ryou ran for Yami while Joey fell to his knees by Yugi, trying to find out what was wrong. The little neko was shaking and whimpering, curled in on himself tightly.

"Yugi? Yugi, what's wrong?" Joey was frantic. Especially when there was no response."

"Tea?" He heard Ryou ask. "Can-can you help him?" He pulled Yugi into his lap and looked up. Tea and Ryou had rolled Yami onto his back, but the mermaid wasn't even trying to revive him. Joey's heart sank; she was sobbing.

"N-no. I can't help him, Ryou. His neck is broken." She looked up at his almost panicking face. "He's dead."

Yugi whimpered and moved as if trying to get out of Joey's arms. "Y-Yami."

Joey felt a lump in his throat. He knew what was going on, what Kemo had done. Nekos could only survive if they had their Master's life force nearby. By killing Yami, there was no hope of saving either.

Yugi moved again, trying to get out of Joey's arms. "Yami."

"Yug', he's gone. I'm sorry."

"N-no. Can . . . save him. P-please." His voice was weak and hoarse, but determined. He was reaching out towards the still-warm body of their friend.

"Yugi?" Joey looked at Yami for a moment, lying there way too still, and then back down at the neko in his arms. He was dying, and they both knew that. But, what if there was a chance? He didn't know what Yugi could possibly do, especially in his condition, but he had to let him try.

Slowly, carefully, Joey stood, shifting his friend so he was as comfortable as he could be, and walked over to the others. Ryou was trying to comfort Tea, but looked up when Joey knelt down, placing Yugi by Yami. Instantly the neko struggled to roll over and crawled partially on top of his Master. Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Yami's, concentrating as much of his energy as he could into his task.

Yyyyy

The first thing I was aware of was a sharp pain. It originated rom my neck and was so severe that it caused my whole body, especially my head, to hurt. An instant later, though, I felt a _pop_ , and it was gone. I gasped, only then realizing that it was the first breath I'd taken.

" . . . ami?"

I groaned, shifting my head towards the familiar, and yet unplaceable, sound.

"Yami? Can you hear me?"

This time I recognized it. Joey.

"Ngh." A pressure on my head that I hadn't noticed before suddenly disappeared. Slowly, I managed to pry my eyes open. Staring back down at me were two, large, bright, amethyst eyes. "Y-Yugi?" I lifted myself partway, leaning on my elbow. He was seated, legs on one side of me, weight held up on his arm on the other side. He looked exhausted, but was smiling so brightly I almost forgot it was night. "Yugi?" Suddenly, the smile faded and his eyes unfocused. A moment later, he'd slumped against my chest, unconscious. "Yugi!"

Yyyyy

Duke and Tristan flew after the werewolf as fast as they could while Bakura kept up by jumping from shadow to shadow. Atem had fallen behind, but only slightly. After about eight miles of high speed chasing they were finally catching up. Duke, snarling, reached inside his jacket pocket, grabbed his favorite weapons, and chucked them, making sure to use all of his vampiric strength. Their target yelped and stumbled, not quite managing to recover in time to avoid being caught by the shadow elf. He snarled and thrashed, but Bakura's shadow binds held him fast.

"You're not going anywhere, you freak." Tristan snarled.

"Heh, yeah? I'm the freak? Look at yourselves. Your friend just died and the first thing you do is run off? Trying to look like the heroes? It's not working."

"I don't exactly give a damn about how I look." Tristan had to exercise a lot of self-restraint to keep from wiping that superior grin of the werewolf's face. With his claws. "Somebody had to go after you."

Bakura, meanwhile, had noticed something strange on the ground. Three small cubes, one black, one blue, and one red. "Um, Duke?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just stop a werewolf with dice?"

Duke walked over and picked them up. "There they are. Thanks." He pocketed them, ignoring the incredulous look on the shadow elf's face in favor of returning to the problem at hand. "What do we do with him? We can't just let him go."

"I say we kill him." Atem growled.

Before anyone could respond, huge wing beats could be heard. The trees swayed violently under the strain of the sudden wind, and all present, minus the shadow-bound Kemo, covered their faces for protection. A moment later, Seto Kaiba landed on the ground, giant maw open and sparking.

"Nobody messes with my brothers." The other four took an involuntary step back. Or, actually, maybe it _was_ voluntary, since the tone of the stoic teenager's voice was no longer that. It was anything but stoic, apathetic, and aloof. Now, it was deep, determined, and murderous. And nobody got between Kaiba and what he wanted. Especially in this type of situation. "If any of you have a weak stomach, this is your only warning." The dragon, much to the shock of everyone there, reared back,

"Please stop!"

and let loose an attack they had only ever seen on TV, as a hologram during his duels. A huge, white, energy ball, sparking and crackling, blasted across the short distance, straight at the screaming and pleading werewolf. Everybody found themselves unable to look away as it hit, blinding light flying everywhere. They were able to see into it, the horrific sight of the shadowy figure of the one they had once feared and hated so much. They were able to watch as he jerked uselessly, trying in vain to dodge the attack that was much larger than he was, trying to save himself. They watched as he quickly disintegrated, and the light added, and all sound ceased. Every sound, excluding their pounding hearts, and the still-lingering, spine-tingling scream of an animal faced with their own, terrifyingly painful death.

Tristan fell to his knees and lost his dinner in the underbrush.

Yyyyy

Joey wrapped an arm around my shoulders, helping me to sit up fully, while his other was busy keeping Yugi steady.

"Wh-what's wrong with him?" I managed, voice shaking. I had no idea what was going on. The last thing I remembered was what I assumed to be my neck breaking. I died . . . didn't I? I couldn't just be fine after an injury like that. And what about Yugi? What had happened to him?

"I don't know." He rubbed Yugi's arm and then, when my neko remained limp, moved his hand up to his neck, feeling for a pulse. As Yugi was leaning against me, I was able to feel the slight (but thankfully steady) rising and falling of his chest. That, however, did nothing to prevent me from holding my breath when Joey had to feel around a bit before he found anything. "He's alive." He sighed in relief. "But what the hell was that? How did he bring you back? I've never heard of nekos having those kinds of powers before."

"I have no idea." I shifted Yugi into a more comfortable position. "You would know more about this than me."

"I, actually, think I might know." We all looked over at Ryou, curious. "I've never seen it, but there are old tales of nekos who managed to revive their Masters; they give them one of their lives."

I sucked in a breath. "Yugi gave me one of his lives? Then he's only got one left."

Ryou lowered his eyes and nodded. "Its thought that the ability was formed out of a survival instinct, but cases of it actually happening are so rare that most of what we know is just guesswork. However, if he hadn't done what he did, we would have lost both of you. Yugi is your neko, so he survives by drawing on your life force. By killing you, Kemo would have killed Yugi, too."

I swallowed and held him closer. I needed a moment to process what I was hearing; we had nearly both died. After all we'd been through, how far we'd come, everything . . . it had almost been over for us. That first moment I'd seen him, standing over a dead animal that had nearly attacked me. He'd decided to trust me, became my first and best friend, aced fear after fear, danger after danger, enemy after enemy. And the world had been that close to losing that light forever. That oh, so rare light that most would be lucky to see just once in their lifetimes. That light that I had formed a closer bond with in just one short month than I had with any other person in my life.

 _Snap!_

Everybody jumped and looked in the direction the footstep had come from, Joey and Ryou getting into defensive stances. Quickly, I stood with Yugi in my arms and backed away from the potential danger.

We all waited with bated breath, the forest around us silent as well, as whoever it was got closer and closer. By this point, we were able to discern that it was defiantly more than one.

Joey snarled, baring his teeth and raising the fur along his spine. "Show yourself!"

"Easy, easy. Its just us." Duke, face a bit pale and solemn, stepped out of the shadows. Behind him were Bakura and a very pale Tristan. Atem brought up the rear, visibly relaxing a great deal upon realizing that we were both alive. Kaiba walked out of the trees a moment later, completely calm and impassive.

"Are you guys alright?" Tea asked. " Where's Kemo?"

"He wont be bothering us anymore. Don't worry." Duke replied, voice void of any emotion.

Bakura glanced at the CEO. "Yeah. Don't worry." I sighed and sat back down, resting Yugi on my lap.

"We'll continue on our way in the morning. I'll take first watch. You all get some sleep." Seto grunted.

"And since when do you give the orders around here?" Joey demanded.

Seto turned and raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you'd do a better job? You're just turned; nothing but a puppy. Once you grow up a bit, and find yourself able to back up whatever nonsense emanates from your mouth, you might be capable of making decisions. Until then, stay out of the way when it comes to fights you can't win." He glanced over at me and Yugi, then turned and walked away.

I felt a slight movement behind me and whirled around, only to find that it was just Atem, in werewolf form, curling protectively around the two of us. Joey, unable to meet my eyes, soon joined him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Joey."

"But he's right. I should have-,"

"No. You did your best to protect us, and that's all that matters."

"Yeah. Sure." He muttered.

"Do you think it was a stupid move on my part, jumping him when he aimed at Tristan?"

"Well, no. But-,"

"Neither of you are stupid, you are both brave. Now shut up and go to sleep before I roll over on you." Atem growled. And what can I say? He was defiantly bigger than me. By a lot. We obeyed. "Hmph. That's not to say that you two don't still have a lot to learn, though."

Yyyyy

Thank you to all of those out there in internetland who have stuck with me thus far and weathered my first fanfic! You are all AMAZING! What has been your favorite scene/moment? I would love to know!

NEXT CHAPTER: Super long last chapter! New faces, old faces, elder faces, and more! See you all then!


	23. Chapter 23

So, first off, I would like to apologize for being inexcusably late with this. I hit writers block, but then began to think about what would happen after I finished this story. It's my first ever fanfic, (aside from one pathetic attempt that only made it one page and now resides in my dead story corner of shame) and since it started my writing, I guess I was just afraid that once it ended, so would everything else. But I have made you all wait long enough, so here it is: the last chapter. I hope it was worth the wait.

Yyyyy

My heart pounded in my chest and sweat poured off of me. I had no idea how long I'd been running, but I couldn't stop. They were right behind me. My foot caught on a root and I fell hard, what little breath I'd had was forced out of my aching lungs.

I lay where I fell, panting and gasping. I had no clue where anyone else was. Those . . . _things_ had just come out of nowhere and attacked. I didn't even know if I was the only one who had gotten separated or if everyone else was on their own, too.

Suddenly, I heard the faint sounds of footsteps coming in my direction. Taking a deep breath and forcing myself up on shaking and horribly protesting limbs, I rose and continued on, pushing my body to go faster and faster until I was once again running, shoving branches out of my way and dodging rocks and underbrush. Before long, I was forced to slow to a walk, thankfully not hearing anything behind me anymore.

Well, not behind me, but . . . I froze. Something was _in front_ of me. Just beyond a huge oak. Cautiously, I crept up to it and took a breath, steadying my nerves, before I peeked around it. I was jut in time to see the very large shadow of one of the creatures that attacked us running off. I let out my breath. That had been clos-. Immediately, my heart stopped and I found myself unable to draw in the breath I'd just released. Where the creature had been was a body, lying brokenly on the ground.

"Oh, _Ra_ , no."

It was in an ever-growing pool of blood, continuously soaking the ground around it.

"Please, no."

It was small, and dressed in my old clothes. The very same clothes I'd found in my attic and given to . . . I stumbled out from behind the tree, legs giving out on me when I reached the edge of the blood. Shakily, already knowing who it was, I reached out and turned the body over, choking out a harsh sob upon confirming exactly what I'd thought.

Yugi's glassy, unseeing eyes stared back at me.

Yyyyy

I gasped and my body gave a jerk. Instantly, I realized that it had just been a bad dream. Yugi was asleep cuddled into me, and Joey and Atem were still acting as our big, furry, _safe_ , nest.

I glanced at Yugi, needing to make sure that he really was all right.

"Mn, 'ami?" He blinked lethargically at me when I shifted him slightly, confusion evident in his eyes. He yawned, and then questioned, "What's wrong?"

I remained silent, just staring at him. For a moment, I wasn't seeing what was in front of me, but rather, the dead Yugi from my dream. Dead. Lifeless. Gone forever. He only had one life left.

I sat up, careful to not wake Atem and Joey, and hugged him tightly. I needed to feel him. To touch him and hold him and be reassured that he was, in fact, here.

He wrapped his arms around me and leaned his head on my shoulder. "I know what you meant now. About having to watch your best friend die. I'm sorry for putting you through that."

"Don't apologize. Just don't . . ." I broke off. We broke and he sat back, looking up at me in curiosity. "Don't leave me. Please. I can't say goodbye again. Especially not to you."

He was silent, just staring into my eyes. He had that look about him again. The one that made him look so much older than he was. The look that elders get when they know they've seen so much, but aren't about to tell you any of it, because that was something you had to find out on your own.

 _Wise_. That was it. And I hated it. Yugi was younger than me. He should look at the world with wonder and hope, not wisdom and experience. But he did. He had seen more than me. Experienced more.

I'd spent years choosing not to. I still believed in hope and the impossible and fate. I'd spent years putting off life until 'later'. Until I had time, or money, or things were different. I'd never tried to make friends, too used to leaving them when we'd move.

Yugi hadn't had the chance to believe in what couldn't be. Didn't have the luxury of putting life until he decided to deal with it. More than anything I wanted to trade his wisdom for innocence.

"I can't tell the future, Yami. But I can promise you that I will do anything in my power to make sure I don't." I shifted my position slightly and nodded, accepting that that was the best answer I was going to get. "But you need to promise me the same, Yami." I'm pretty sure my face registered my surprise, because he made sure to continue before I had the chance to say anything. "I know that I can't survive without you, but I can go on for a little while on my own. I watched you die, saw the whole thing: you dying, you laying there . . . everything. I know what you were talking about, and I don't ever want to see you like that again."

I was silent for a moment. "I can't predict the future either, Yugi. But I can promise you that I will also do whatever is in my power to avoid dying." He gave me a small smile, which I returned. "We've both only got one life left. Lets live it to the fullest, no matter where it takes us. Our lives are ours to live, so let's make the most of them. Deal?"

His lips split into an excited grin, "Deal."

Yyyyy

"Lady and gentlemen," Ryou announced a few hours later, halting us, "I'd like to welcome you to . . . our home." He stepped to the side and we took in what lay beyond the trees. A small valley, bordered by a large, sluggish river, was dotted with several log cabins. People of all ages, were going about their business. Some greeted each other, while others tended a large garden or made their way to or from the water. I managed to count at least thirty.

"Wow." Was the only thought I could verbally form. Along another side of the village rose a small mountain, the base of which appeared to have been carved out, straight down.

Ryou let us look for a while, until Seto walked right past us and into town. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

"Come on. We'll introduce you all to the town leaders. You'll love them." Ryou smiled and followed after the draconic teen.

We made it most of the way down the hill when Bakura suddenly went rigid. His spine straightened and he glanced around frantically, looking for something. "Bakura? What's wrong?" Yugi asked, concerned. We were all concerned, after everything that had happened these last few days.

"I . . . I sense someone. Another-," he broke off, eyes wide and expression heart wrenchingly hopeful "another elf. There's an elf here."

Joey and Tristan looked at each other. "From what I read, I always thought elves were one of the more common species." Joey raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, a century ago." Ryou informed, wearily watching his partner. "They used to live in various clans all over the world, until they began being hunted. Bakura is one of the last of his kind."

The shadow elf let out a soft gasp and jerked his head around, bolting for the nearest shadow. A moment after he disappeared, a scream came from one of the closest cabins the door burst open and a girl about our age hurriedly backed out.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my kitchen?!"

" _S-Serenity?"_ I turned, no longer chuckling at Bakura's not-so-subtle way of introducing himself, to see Joey staring at the girl like he'd seen a ghost. "Serenity!" he tore past us, dead set on demolishing the distance between them.

"Joey?" She saw him and covered her mouth, tears in her eyes. Suddenly, her intruder was all but forgotten. The two embraced and began weeping, sobbing out how glad they were to see the other still alive.

"What the heck are you doing here? Mom said you'd been kidnapped." Joey asked as soon as he was able to be coherent.

Serenity took a small step back, glancing briefly at Bakura, who was staring at her the way an art enthusiast would stare at the Mona Lisa; full of wonder and joy. "I ran away from home after I turned into an elf. This . . . man tried to hurt me. I didn't want him going after Mom or you, so I . . . I'm sorry." She broke down again and buried her face in her big brother's chest. "I ran away."

"Shh. It's alright. I'm here." He hugged her tightly, but a moment later, she paused and opened her eyes.

"Wh-what _are_ you doing here, anyway? The elf gene is a mutation. I didn't think it was possible to have two elf siblings."

Joey lowered his eyes and stepped back. "I'm not an elf. I was turned into a werewolf about a week ago. Speaking of which, these are my friends." He pointed to each of us in turn, arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders. "Meet Tristan, Duke, Tea, Yami, Yugi, Ryou, Atem, and the guy behind you-, Bakura, no touching-, is Bakura. Guys, meet my little sister, Serenity!"

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." We greeted her.

"It's very nice to meet all of you, too." She bowed, obviously very formal.

"It's nice to meet you, Serenity. But when did you get here?" Bakura, trying to stop staring, asked.

"We arrived about two weeks ago. A kitsune named Mai brought us here."

"'We'? There are more of you?" The shadow elf perked up at that.

"Yeah, my friend Marik. He found me soon after I ran away. He left home for the same reason as me. Do you want to meet him?"

Ryou jumped in before Bakura could answer. "Maybe a bit later. We need to get everyone checked in first."

"Sorry, Hun. Chiefs are out doing the rounds. They should be back in about twenty minutes." We turned to the speaker: a tall, blonde woman with animal ears and a giant, fluffy tail. "By the way, have you seen Mokuba anywhere?"

"I saw him and Kisara a few minutes age greeting Kaiba. I think they went up to their cave." Serenity pointed to a dark spot about halfway up the mountain. Mai thanked her and walked off in the direction.

"Well, it looks like we've got time to meet your friend Marik after all, Serenity." Ryou smiled.

She grinned and led the way across town to the crevice at the base of the mountain. Once there, she showed us to a small trail and we picked our way carefully down it until we reached the bottom.

"Marik?" She called, heading for a pitch black hole in the side of the mountain base.

" _Serenity, no! Stay back! Don't come any closer!"_ A frightened voice echoed off the cave walls.

"Marik? Why? What's wrong?"

"I think I'm corrupting you! I sense shadow magic and it's not mine!"

We all paused, silence reigning as we attempted to form a response. Bakura stepped forward. "That would be me."

Nothing was heard for a moment, the voice apparently surprised, until hurried footsteps rushed toward us. A blonde, crazy-looking (for lack of a better term) teenager jumped out of the shadows right in front of Bakura, less than an inch from his face. Behind me, Atem gasped.

"Marik?"

The new arrival twitched slightly but didn't turn away from his staring contest with our shadow elf. "You're in my territory." He said, somehow managing to sound matter-of-fact rather than threatening.

"Actually, this is _my_ territory. You're the intruder."

"I have a knife collection."

"As do I."

"Hey, Marik. Be nice-," Serenity was cut off when her friend adopted a huge, almost maniacal, grin.

"Wanna see?"

"Absolutely!"

In sync, they both rushed off, reminding me of a pair of children I'd once seen, having just spotted a box marked 'Free Kittens'. Almost immediately, though, Marik shadow-walked back and scooped Serenity off the ground, bouncing around and giving her a big hug.

"Thanks, baby sis! You're the best!" He put her back on her feet and ran off after Bakura.

" . . . What did he just call you?" Joey asked, turning to face his sister.

She blushed. "We were wandering for a few years, just the two of us. He stared calling me that after a while."

"I hate to interrupt, but we should get you seven checked in. The chiefs are probably back by now." Ryou spoke up. Joey glanced once in the direction the shadow elves had disappeared in, and then followed us. "By the way, Serenity." She turned to face the Pegasus. "What type of elf are you?"

She smiled. "I'm a light elf."

"Really? I'm surprised that you and Marik managed to get along so well, then."

"For the past few years, he was all I had, and vice versa." She smiled sadly.

Yyyyy

"Hello?" Ryou knocked on the door of a house in the center of town. It looked just like every other cabin, except for the large bell on the roof, which Ryou had explained was for warning. "Let's go in. They usually don't hear knocks, anyway." He turned the doorknob and led us in. Yugi, in my arms, perked his ears as soon as we crossed the threshold.

A small, blue ball rolled to a stop at my feet, only having a moment to rest before it was pounced on by a fluffy, gray (Persian? I think they were called) cat. He froze when he realized he had company, and quickly bolted for a desk at the other end of the room.

"Arthur! Ryou's back." He called.

An elderly man in a tan suit entered the room. "Thank you, Solomon." He rubbed the cat on the head and smiled as the feline shifted into a short, smiling, pudgy, old man. "Welcome, everyone. My name is Arthur Hawkins, and this is my neko and best friend, Solomon. Lets get you settled in."

Yyyyy

 _Three Years Later_

I panted hard and rested my hands on my knees. The full moon overhead lit up the rooftop I had landed on after disembarking from my short ride on Air Tristan. The vampire was now circling back down towards the street below to regain a lock on the new werewolf.

" _Yami, do you see anything?"_ He asked over our comm link.

"Nothing. I've lost sight of him." I responded, searching the dark streets below. We, meaning Tristan, Joey, Tea, Yugi, myself, and sometimes Atem, had risen through the ranks to become our towns' best scout team. It was now our job to find and retrieve mythicals who were in need of help, or just too dangerous. And currently, we were hot on the trail of a new werewolf.

" _I got him. He's just off Daedalus Street."_ Joey reported.

"We're on our way. Do not approach him unless he makes a move towards a civilian." I was not looking forward to seeing the werewolf again, as I had been nearly eaten by him right before Tristan dropped me off at my current location, but the sun was almost up. The more eyes we could get on him, the lesser the chances were of and casualties.

" _Race you there, Yami."_ Yugi challenged. I had been reluctant at first about letting him join in with the missions, but we both (well, _all_ of us, actually) had had to complete several training courses for safety before we were allowed out in the field.

"You're on, kitty." I stepped back, judged the distance, and began running. Planting my foot, I pushed off the edge of the roof and rolled to a landing on the next one over. Over the past few years, my skills had developed greatly, and I often found myself looking back in awe at just how much my life had changed because one night, I decided to take home a stray kitten.

" _That's Mr. Kitty to you, human. You_ do _realize that cats are better at this than people, right?"_ I heard his voice in my ear, panting and grunting as he made his own way through the outskirts of the city to the location of our target.

I made another leap and landed on the next roof over, falling a bit harder on my shoulder than I would have preferred. That was going to bruise. Daedalus Street was only a few buildings away, and I could already see the first rays of morning light peeking up over the oceanic horizon. This would be over soon.

I made the final leap and leaned over the edge of the roof, spotting the large lycanthrope down below looking around, confused and tired. This was normal for werewolves after their first change, as they lost control and usually never had any recollection of arriving in the place they ended up. The sunlight reached him and he flinched, shuddering as his body began to shrink and change it's shape.

Slowly, I made my way down the fire escape, seeing the rest of my team approaching him. By the time I reached him, he was completely human again. Yugi, in cat form, jumped up and steeled on my shoulder, while Duke, Tristan, and Joey stopped several feet away, blocking any means of escape, just in case he tried anything. Confusion often led to unpredictability. Tea, our team medic, was keeping an eye on things from our van across the street.

The teen, (or young man, I couldn't tell) eyed us all wearily. He was tall, blonde, and didn't look used to being on the defensive, if the look he was flashing me was anything to go by. He had been bitten two days prior, and we had been sent out to retrieve him before he could do anyone, including himself, any harm. Unfortunately, he ended up being quite skilled in the art of disappearing. By the time we had been able to track down where he was hiding, it was too late and he had changed.

I approached him cautiously, hands raised to show I meant no harm. Yugi would be able to subdue him if he tried anything, anyway. "My name is Yami. This is Yugi. Those guys over there are Tristan, Duke, and Joey. And our friend Tea is in that van across the way."

"How nice. What do you want with me? What the hell just happened to me?"

"You were bitten by a werewolf. We know it's a lot to take in, but we have a safe place for you to stay while you adjust to your new life, Jack Atlas."

Yyyyy

OMFG! I FINISHED! THIS STORY HAS ACTUALLY REACHED ITS CONCLUSION! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR BEARING WITH ME THESE PAST FEW MONTHS! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW BEFORE YOU LEAVE!

(I still cant believe this story has finally ended. I began writing it almost a full year before I began posting, and it has far surpassed my hopes in both storyline and readers. I'd never had anyone read anything I'd written before, but a few chapters in, I began describing what I was doing to a friend, neglecting to tell her I was considering stopping because there was no way anyone would read it even if I could learn how to post it. She got excited about it and wanted to read what I had so far, then kept urging me to write more and more. This would never have been possible if it hadn't have been for her. IF YOU'RE READING THIS, AND YOU KNOW WHOM YOU ARE, I CAN NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH!) Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the last chapter! XD


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